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THE  AMERICAN   STUDENT 


AND  THE 


RHODES    SCHOLARSHIPS 


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OXFORD    UNIVERSITY 


A   Manual   of    Information 


B\ 


CHARLES  L.  WILLIAMS,  A.  M. 

Professor  in  Denison  University 


PRICE    25    CENTS 

COPYRIGHT  1903.  B\ 

THE  SPRAGUE  PUBLISHING  CO. 

DETROIT.  MICH. 


THE  AMERICAN  STUDENT 


AND  THE 


RHODES   SCHOLARSHIPS 


AT 


OXFORD    UNIVERSITY 


A   Manual   of    Information 


BY 

CHARLES  L.  WILLIAMS,  A.  M. 

Professor  in  Denison  University 


COPYRIGHT  1905.  BY 

THE  SPRAGUE  PUBLISHING  CO. 

DETROIT.  MICH. 


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TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 

'4' 
CHAPTER  I. 

The  Founder  of  the  Scholarships  and  His  Purpose — The  City  of 
Oxford — A  Venerable  Institution — Origin  and  Growth  of  the 
University. 


CHAPTER  II. 

The  University  and  the  Colleges — The  University  Idea  at  Oxford — 
The  Government  of  the  Institution — The  Officials  of  the  Univer- 
sity— Residence — Term-keeping, 


CHAPTER  III. 

Examinations — Passmen     and     Honormen — The     Honor     Schools- 
Firsts  and  Double-firsts — Graduation. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

The  College  Buildings — The  Chapels — The  Halls— College  Officials- 
Classes  of  Undergraduates — Where  and  How  the  Students 
Live — Chapel  Attendance — The  Tutors — Localisms  and  College 
Slang. 


CHAPTER  V. 

Athletic  Sports  and  Other  Diversions — The  Moral  Atmosphere  of 
Oxford — Expenses — Dissimilarities  among  the  Colleges — College 
Spirit. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

The  Conservatism  of  Oxford — Defects  in  the  Oxford  System  of 
Education— Special  Advantages  of  the  Rhodes  Scholar. 


Oxford  from  Magdalen  Tower. 


PREFACE. 


What  appears  in  the  following  pages  was  gathered,  for  the  most 
part,  during  a  seven  weeks'  visit  at  Oxford,  England,  in  the  summer 
of  1908  for  the  purpose  of  finding  out  all  I  could  in  that  time  about 
the  famous  University  located  there.  In  my  search  for  information 
I  was  treated  with  the  utmost  courtesy  by  the  many  persons — 
professors,  undergraduates  and  citizens — to  whom  I  made  known 
the  object  of  my  visit.  My  thanks  are  especially  due  Mr.  J.  Gilbert 
Wiblin,  B.  A.  of  Jesus  College  for  many  kindly  suggestions  and  for 
an  account  of  the  more  important  doings  at  Oxford  in  recent  months. 

Like  all  others  who  desire  to  become  acquainted  with  Oxford 
University,  I  availed  myself  also  of  the  indispensable  help  afforded 
by  such  books  as  Alden's  "Guide  to  Oxford,"  Wells's  "Oxford  and 
Its  Colleges,"  Brodrick's  "History  of  the  University  of  Oxford," 
Gardner's  "Oxford  at  the  Cross  Roads,"  Andrew  Lang's  "Oxford — 
Historical  and  Picturesque  Notes,"  Corbin's  "An  American  at 
Oxford,"  Dyer's  "Oxford  as  It  Is,"  "The  Student's  Handbook  to 
Oxford  University,"  "The  University  Calendar"  and  "The  Exam- 
ination Statutes." 

It  would,  of  course,  be  presumptuous  for  me  to  suppose  that 
in  this  pamphlet  there  are  no  errors  of  any  kind;  because  the 
"Oxford  System,"  being  so  anomalous,  is  very  puzzling  to  us  Ameri- 
cans and  because  the  more  than  twenty  colleges  differ  from  one 
another  in  many  respects  though  having  much  in  common.  This, 
however,  may  be  said  with  truth,  that  the  author  of  this  pamphlet 
has  tried  to  make  it  a  manual  of  reliable  information  for  the  use 
of  those  American  youth  who  may  aspire  to  become  Rhodes  Scholars 
at  Oxford. 


Granville,  Ohio,  November,  1904. 


C.  L.  W. 


158601 


CHAPTER  I. 

A  Fine  Opportunity. 

There  are  worse  things  in  this  world  than  money,  the  rheuma- 
tism, for  example;  and  almost  any  one  can  do  without  rheumatism 
better  than  he  can  without  money. 

This  is  particularly  true  of  a  young-  man  who  wishes  to  go 
through  some  one  of  our  better  American  colleges  and  then  take  a 
course  of  study  in  Europe.  If  he  can  do  this,  he  had  better  do  it; 
because  it  will  broaden  his  mind  very  much.  It  will  also  enable 
him  to  appreciate  more  fully  the  greatness  of  our  own  country,  for 
there  can  be  no  question  that  in  many  respects  we  of  the  United 
States  are  by  far  the  most  important  nation  in  all  the  world. 

By  the  will  of  Mr.  Cecil  J.  Rhodes  of  South  Africa,  who  died 
on  March  26th,  1902,  a  number  of  scholarships  at  Oxford  University, 
England,  are  offered  to  young  men  of  satisfactory  character  and 
ability  in  the  United  States.  A  young  man  who  is  so  fortunate  as 
to  win  one  of  these  Rhodes  Scholarships,  as  they  are  called,  may 
study  at  Oxford  for  a  long  time  and  may  have  more  than  enough 
money  to  support  him  in  the  utmost  comfort,  if  he  is  not  extravagant 
in  his  tastes.  He  will  have  also  a  fine  opportunity  to  become 
acquainted  with  the  English  people,  who  are  so  really  great  in 
many  ways  that  for  him  to  know  them  well,  cannot  fail  to  form  a 
valuable  part  of  his  education. 


Mr.  Cecil  John  Rhodes. 

Whatever  may  be  our  opinion  as  to  Mr.  Rhodes,  we  must  admit 
that  in  many  respects  he  was  a  very  remarkable  man.  In  his 
personal  character  he  was  not  perfect,  to  be  sure.  No  man  is  that, 
and  if  we  meet  one  who  thinks  himself  perfect,  we  had  better  not 
have  much  to  do  with  him  or  we  shall  be  sorry  for  it.  In  carrying 
out  some  of  his  bold  and  gigantic  enterprises  Mr.  Rhodes  may  have 
been  unscrupulous  sometimes.  Be  that  as  it  may,  there  was  a 
good  side  to  him.  He  was  one  of  those  men,  like  the  great  Lord 
Bacon,  who  have  a  complex  character  and  about  whom  it  takes 
history  a  long  time  to  tell  the  truth  or,  at  least,  the  whole  truth. 

Some  men  have  no  foresight,  nor  hindsight  either,  for  that 
matter.  They  cannot  see  a  thing  until  they  feel  it,  which  they  do 
by  running  into  it  and  bruising  themselves.  Mr.  Rhodes,  however, 
was  not  a  man  of  that  kind.  He  was  farseeing.  He  possessed 
wonderful  shrewdness,  pluck  and  force.  He  was  a  man  of  nerve 
and  of  action.  He  had  a  way  of  bringing  things  to  pass.  He 
conquered  difficulties  that  would  have  disheartened  most  men.  He 
began  his  career  in  poor  health  and  without  any  money  worth 
speaking  of,  but  before  his  death  he  had  made  a  fortune  amounting 
to  more  than  $25,000,000  and  gained  for  himself  the  name  of 
"Empire-builder." 

Purpose  of  the  Scholarships. 

Mr,  Rhodes  was  an  Englishman  to  the  backbone.  He  loved 
England  intensely.  He  had  the  greatest  faith  in  her  institutions 
and  wished  to  see  them  extended  still  farther  in  the  world.  He 
cherished  the  largest  hopes  for  the  future  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race, 

6 


College  Barges  on  the  Isis. 


of  which  the  United  States  and  England  are  the  most  powerful 
representatives.  He  believed  that  it  would  be  to  the  advantage  of 
the  whole  world  if  all  the  peoples  that  speak  the  English  language 
should  come  into  closer  union  and  should  have  the  chief  voice  in 
directing  the  affairs  of  the  world. 

The  donor  of  these  scholarships  wished  that  the  United  States 
might  know  England  better  and  be  more  in  sympathy  with  her,  and 
he  thought  this  end  would  be  promoted  if  a  body  of  choice  young 
men  from  our  country  should  become  students  at  Oxford  University, 
of  which  he  was  an  alumnus.  Accordingly,  he  made  provision  in 
his  will  that  a  number  of  scholarships  at  this  famous  institution  in 
England  should  be  offered  to  students  in  the  United  States. 

Here  is  something  which  it  is  worth  while  for  our  wide-awake 
youth  to  consider,  for  the  reason  that  each  of  these  scholarships  is 
worth  $1,500  a  year  and  may  be  held  for  three  years.  "One  scholar 
will  be  chosen  for  each  state  and  territory  to  which  scholarships 
are  assigned.  *  *  *  Scholars  must  be  unmarried,  must  be 
citizens  of  the  United  States  and  must  be  between  nineteen  and 
twenty-five  years  of  age.  *  *  *  j^.  has  been  decided  that  all 
scholars  shall  have  reached  at  least  the  end  of  their  Sophomore  or 
second  year  at  some  recognized  degree-granting  university  or  college 
of  the  United  States."  So  reads  the  memorandum  which  was  sent 
out  by  Mr.  F.  J.  Wylie  of  Oxford,  the  courteous  agent  there  of  the 
Rhodes  Trustees. 

In  his  will  Mr.  Rhodes  directs  that,  in  addition  to  meeting  the 
requirements  mentioned  above,  the  candidate  for  one  of  these 
scholarships  must  have  shown  himself  interested  and  successful  in 
outdoor  sports,  such  as  cricket  and  football.  He  must  have  shown 
himself  possessed  of  such  manly  virtues  as  truthfulness,  courage, 
self-control,  unselfishness,  devotion  to  duty  and  sympathy  for  the 


weak  and  unprotected.  Moreover,  lie  must  have  displayed  among 
his  fellow-students  the  gift  of  personal  magnetism  and  a  capacity 
for  leadership.  No  mere  bookworm  need  apply.  None  but  those 
who  are  healthy  in  body  and  mind  will  be  accepted. 

Examinations  are  to  be  held  in  each  of  the  United  States  at 
convenient  centers  for  the  purpose  of  testing  the  fitness  of  candi- 
dates to  pursue  a  course  of  study  at  Oxford.  These  examinations 
were  conducted  for  the  first  time  last  spring,  and  those  who  were 
chosen  to  be  Scholars  were  expected  to  begin  their  work  at  Oxford 
in  October. 


The  City  of  Oxford. 

Oxford,  the  seat  of  this  University,  is  a  city  in  the  southern- 
central  part  of  England  and  about  forty-five  miles  northwest  of 
London.  The  most  of  it  lies  between  the  rivers  Cherwell  and 
Thames,  the  latter  of  which  at  this  point  is  called  the  Isis.  Oxford 
Is  situated  in  a  valley  which  is  beautiful  to  the  eye  but  which,  as 
we  may  believe  very  easily,  is  not  found  to  be  the  most  healthful 
by  some  on  account  of  the  malaria. 

It  is  a  city  of  50,000  inhabitants.  It  is  without  any  extensive 
manufacturing  industries.  There  are  no  great  factories  with  their 
tall  chimneys  breathing  out  smoke  and  cinders.  The  closest  atten- 
tion  is  paid  to  sanitary  matters.  The  streets  are  kept  in  the  finest 
condition,  and  the  police  regulations  are  well  nigh  perfect,  as  they 
generally  are  in  England.  Any  one  with  a  taste  for  the  beauties  of 
nature  can  scarcely  fail  to  be  charmed  by  the  neat  hedges,  liand- 
some  lawns  and  rows  of  generous  shade  trees  which  he  sees  as  he 
goes  about  the  city  during  the  spring  and  summer.  There  are 
scores  upon  scores  of  buildings  that  are  very  imposing  in  appear- 
ance. There  are  churches  and  churches,  many  of  which  are  mag- 
nificent within  and  without.  Oxford  is  a  city  famous  for  its  towers 
and  spires  and,  looked  at  from  a  distance,  it  presents  a  sight  that 
is  very  enjoyable. 

Oxford  is  an  admirable  place  for  a  great  institution  of  learning. 
It  is  free  from  the  distractions  of  a  great  city.  It  is  quiet  and 
restful,  especially  to  those  who  have  been  living  in  some  centre  of 
business  activity,  where  all  is  bustle  and  where  everybody  is  rushing 
forward  as  if  pursued  by  some  wild  animal.  But  although  Oxford 
is  quiet  and  restful,  it  is  not  a  sleepy  place.  Its  intellectual  atmos- 
phere is  highly  conducive  to  study  and  to  the  fruitful  pursuit  of 
knowledge. 

Of  course,  the  University  is  the  principal  thing  in  the  city  of 
Oxford.  With  its  wealth  and  its  hundreds  of  teachers,  and  with  its 
thousands  of  students,  its  influence  is  felt  everywhere  in  the  city, 
in  social  circles,  in  the  churches,  among  the  business  people  and 
among  the  laboring  classes.  If  asked  what  was  the  chief  industry 
of  Sheffield,  we  should  say,  "The  manufacture  of  cutlery."  If  asked 
what  was  the  chief  industry  of  Oxford,  we  should  reply,  "The 
making  of  scholars." 

To  be  sure,  now  and  then,  as  in  all  other  schools  of  learning,  a 
fool  is  made  and,  labeled  "B.  A.,"  is  turned  loose  upon  society,  or 
rather,  now  and  then  one  comes  forth  showing  that  he  has  fully 
improved  the  opportunities  offered  him  for  developing  the  fool- 
potentiality  with  which  he  was  born.  The  knowledge  this  blooming 
B.  A,  has  gained,  does  not  seem  to  have  agreed  with  him.  The 
University,  however,  is  not  to  be  blamed  for  this. 

8 


High  Street,  looking  West.     St.  Mary's  and  Queen's  Colleges  on  Right, 
and  University  College  on  Left. 


Besides  the  University  with  its  twenty-one  colleges,  there  are 
at  Oxford  several  other  educational  institutions,  that  are  more  or 
less  closely  connected  with  the  University.  Of  these  Somerville 
College  for  young  women  is  worthy  of  special  mention.  There  are 
also  others  that  have  no  official  connection  with  the  University, 
such  as  Mansfield  College,  controlled  by  the  Congregationalists,  and 
Manchester  College,  under  the  direction  of  the  Unitarians.  We 
speak  of  Brooklyn  as  the  City  of  Churches,  and  we  may  speak  of 
Oxford  as  the  City  of  Schools. 


A  Venerable  Institution, 

Oxford  is  a  very  old  university,  the  oldest  in  England,  Cam- 
bridge, its  illustrious  rival,  being  somewhat  younger.  Harvard,  the 
earliest  of  our  American  colleges,  was  founded  more  than  two 
centuries  and  a  half  ago.  We  think  of  it  as  venerable  and  it  is, 
but  Oxford  had  been  a  popular  seat  of  learning  four  hundred  years 
before  Harvard  began  its  distinguished  career  in  1636. 

The  visitor  finds  at  Oxford  a  good  deal  that  has  survived  from 
the  distant  past,  a  good  deal  to  interest  him  if  he  has  a  taste  for 
antiquity.  Some  of  the  buildings  are  more  or  less  modern,  but 
others  are  very  old  and  a  fev/  bear  the  marks  of  extreme  age.  In 
the  chapel  of  the  college  that  goes  by  the  name  of  Christ  Church 
one  may  see  remains  of  an  earlier  chapel,  built  there  in  1289.  Some 
parts  of  the  buildings  that  belong  to  Merton  College,  the  oldest  in 
Oxford,  date  back  to  the  latter  part  of  the  thirteenth  century,  two 
hundred  years  before  Columbus  came  to  America.  New  College, 
which  was  established  toward  the  close  of  the  fourteenth  century 
and  which  has  been  "New"  ever  since,  has  dormitories  that  have 


9 


remained  almost  the  same  as  they  were  when  first  occupied  by 
students  in  1386.  The  kitchen  at  Christ  Church  has  not  been 
changed  to  any  great  extent  since  it  was  erected  by  Cardinal  Wolsey 
in  the  early  part  of  the  sixteenth  century. 

The  older  structures  at  Oxford,  of  course,  show  the  effects  that 
time  has  had  upon  them.  When  a  man  is  advanced  in  years  he  is 
likely  to  turn  gray,  but  many  of  these  older  buildings  have  been  so 
affected  by  the  English  climate  that  they  have  turned  almost  black. 
Some  of  the  stone  walls  have  a  mottled  appearance  on  the  outside, 
because  the  discolored  surface  has  crumbled  off  in  places  close  to 
one  another.  This,  of  course,  mars  their  attractiveness  very  much. 
Besides,  it  costs  a  large  sum  of  money  every  year  to  keep  these 
structures  old.  They  have  to  be  repaired  frequently  or  they  would 
tumble  down  and  become  m_ere  heaps  of  stone. 

These,  however,  are  not  the  only  objects  of  interest  to  persons 
fond  of  what  is  very  old.  In  the  Ashmolean  Museum  there  are  such 
relics  of  the  far  away  past  as  a  jewel  that  belonged  to  Alfred  the 
Great.  Oriel  College  has  a  drinking  cup  which  is  said  to  have  been 
presented  to  the  college  by  Edward  II,  In  the  chapel  of  New  College 
one  may  see  the  richly  ornamented  crosier  that  belonged  to  William 
of  Wykeham,  the  founder  of  the  college.  In  the  library  of  Merton 
College  are  books  chained  to  the  shelves  as  was  done  hundreds  of 
years  ago. 

There  are  some  customs  that  have  been  handed  down  from  the 
Middle  Ages  or  from  a  period  a  little  later.  At  Queen's  College  the 
students  are  called  to  dinner  by  the  blowing  of  a  trumpet  instead 
of  by  the  chiming  of  a  bell,  the  usual  signal  for  dinner  in  the  Oxford 
colleges.  To  notify  the  students  of  the  University  that  they  should 
repair  to  their  respective  colleges  for  the  night,  the  bell  in  the  tower 
of  Christ  Church  has  struck  101  times  at  9  o'clock  every  night, 
except  one,  since  May  29,  1684.  In  short,  a  person  with  antiquarian 
tastes  will  find  much  to  delight  him  in  the  libraries,  in  the  museums 
and  elsewhere  in  Oxford. 


Origin  and  Growth  of  the  University. 

What  we  do  not  know  with  certainty  about  the  beginning  of 
Oxford  University  would  fill  a  very  large  book.  We  cannot  put  our 
hands  upon  a  sufficient  number  of  historical  facts  to  justify  us  in 
speaking  with  positiveness  as  to  the  time  and  manner  of  its  origin. 
For  a  long  time  it  was  generally  believed  and  stated  with  confidence 
that  this  institution  had  been  founded  by  Alfred  the  Great  in  the 
ninth  century,  but  there  is  no  sure  foundation  for  this  belief.  No 
one  knows  the  exact  year  when  Oxford  became  a  university  with 
a  charter  of  its  own,  with  the  right  of  self-government  and  with 
a  chancellor  at  its  head. 

We  do  know,  however,  that  in  the  early  part  of  the  twelfth 
century  the  town  of  Oxford  was  a  center  of  learning,  that  many 
schools  were  there,  that  they  were  under  the  fostering  care  of  the 
Church,  and  that  out  of  these  schools  in  some  way  grew  Oxford 
University;  and  we  may  be  reasonably  certain  that  this  took  place 
at  some  time  in  the  early  part  of  the  thirteenth  century. 

It  is  clear  enough  that  the  University  for  some  time  after  it 
began  its  existence  had  all  it  could  do  to  maintain  its  independence. 
Its  income  was  small  and  its  buildings  were  few.  The  students 
were  given  to  fighting  among  themselves,  and  they  had  bloody  con- 


10 


Old  Clarendon  Press  and  the  Sheldonian  Theatre.     The  Theatre  is  the 
Building  with  a  Cupola. 


flicts  with  the  citizens  of  Oxford.  But  as  time  passed  on,  the 
University  acquired  special  privileges,  received  gifts  of  money  and 
was  thus  able  to  enlarge  its  equipment  for  the  work  it  wished  to 
do.  It  gained  a  better  control  over  its  students,  and  having  the 
favor  of  the  King  it  achieved  complete  supremacy  in  the  town  of 
Oxford. 

The  number  of  students  rapidly  increased  until,  in  the  early  part 
of  the  fourteenth  century  there  may  have  been  so  many  as  three 
thousand,  but  there  certainly  could  not  have  been  thirty  thousand 
at  that  time,  as  was  stated  by  the  Archbishop  of  Armagh  in  1357. 
The  Archbishop  was,  no  doubt,  a  good  man,  but  he  must  have  mixed 
a  good  deal  of  imagination  with  his  memory.  Oxford  could  not  have 
housed  that  many  students  in  those  days. 


CHAPTER  II. 

The  University  and  the  Colleges. 

At  first  the  University  existed  by  itself.  There  were  no  colleges. 
They  came  later.  The  first  of  these  was  Merton,  which  was  founded 
by  the  great  Walter  de  Merton  in  1264.  It  possessed  ample  buildings 
and  funds  of  its  own.  It  had  the  right  of  self-government  and 
became  the  model  after  which  the  later  colleges  at  Oxford  were 
constituted.  Before  the  end  of  the  fourteenth  century  there  were 
seven  colleges  at  Oxford — Merton,  University,  Balliol,  Exeter,  Oriel, 


11 


Queen's  and  New.  Three  more  were  added  in  the  next  century — 
Lincoln,  All  Souls  and  Magdalen.  In  the  sixteenth  century  six 
were  established — Brasenose,  Corpus  Christi,  Christ  Church,  Trinity, 
St.  John's  and  Jesus.  These  were  joined  by  two  more  in  the  seven- 
teenth century — Wadham  and  Pembroke.  Another  two  appeared  in 
the  eighteenth — Worcester  and  Hertford.  Keble,  the  youngest  of 
them  all  and  somewhat  unlike  the  others  in  its  constitution,  began 
its  career  in  1870. 

Before  the  colleges  became  a,  part  of  it,  the  University  had 
everything  to  itself.  Its  importance  was  supreme,  but  as  the  colleges 
with  their  fine  buildings,  their  large  endowments  and  their  right  of 
self-government  became  more  numerous  and  extended  their  influ- 
ence, the  importance  of  the  University  as  such  became  relatively 
small  and  this  it  continued  to  be  for  centuries.  The  colleges  became 
almost  everything. 

There  can  be  no  question,  however,  that  the  introduction  and 
the  development  of  the  college  idea  was  an  excellent  thing  for 
Oxford  University.  Before  the  colleges  were  established,  there  were 
no  satisfactory  accommodations  for  the  students,  and  so  they  were 
obliged  to  live  out  in  town,  where  they  had  many  temptations  to 
irregular  and  even  lawless  conduct.  But  within  the  walls  of  the 
colleges  they  were  better  cared  for,  their  morals  were  looked  after 
more  closely,  and  they  were  compelled  to  give  greater  attention  to 
their  studies.  Stricter  discipline  was  maintained  throughout  the 
University  and  more  satisfactory  work  was  done. 

During  the  last  few  decades,  the  importance  of  the  University, 
as  distinct  from  that  of  the  colleges,  has  been  greatly  extended,  and 
that,  too,  at  their  expense.  Their  monopoly  has  been  broken  and  yet 
the  college  idea  is  very  strong  in  Oxford  at  the  present  time.  It 
manifests  itself  in  many  ways.  There  is  a  good  deal  of  rivalry 
among  the  colleges  and  so  there  is  much  college  spirit. 

Oxford  University,  of  course,  has  had  its  depressions  and  its 
exaltations.  In  a  degree  by  no  means  small  it  has  reflected  many 
of  the  changes  through  which  England  has  passed  in  the  last  six 
hundred  and  fifty  years.  During  the  fierce  conflicts  between  the 
Roman  Catholics  and  the  Protestants  in  the  sixteenth  century  Eng- 
land suffered  greatly;  so  did  Oxford.  During  the  later  years  of 
Elizabeth,  England  was  prosperous;  so  was  Oxford.  For  siding  with 
the  King  and  with  the  Established  Church  during  the  Civil  War 
Oxford  was  on  the  verge  of  ruin  for  a  time.  During  the  eighteenth 
century  the  University  as  a  seat  of  learning  and  as  a  centre  of  intel- 
lectual activity  was  woefully  deficient.  The  spirit  of  true  scholar- 
ship was  practically  extinct.  For  a  hundred  years  Oxford  enrolled 
among  its  students  shamefullj''  few  who  rose  to  distinction  in  the 
field  of  English  letters,  and  of  these  very  few  seem  to  have  had  any 
great  respect  for  the  University. 

But  with  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  Oxford  began 
to  awake.  She  had  to  or  be  buried.  Before  that  time  she  had 
opposed  all  reform.  She  had  been  dominated  by  the  conservatism 
which  has  its  eyes  in  the  back  of  its  head,  but  during  the  first  half 
of  the  last  century  she  yielded  little  by  little,  though  reluctantly, 
to  the  demands  of  the  liberalism  which  had  arisen  in  England.  The 
work  of  reform,  commenced  by  a  few  members  of  the  University, 
Avas  greatly  extended  by  the  British  Parliament.  For  a  long  time  no 
Roman  Catholic  had  been  able  to  gain  admission  to  the  University. 
That  restriction  was  removed.  No  one  could  be  matriculated  unless 
he  signed  the  Thirty-nine  articles  of  the  Church  of  England.  That 
restriction  was  done  away  with.     As  a  result  of  these  and  other 

12 


k 

Martyrs'  Memorial.      Balliol  College,  and  St.  Mary  Magdalen  Church. 


radical  changes  Oxford  University,  since  the  beginning-  of  the  nine- 
teenth century,  has  become  almost  another  and,  of  course,  a  vastly 
better  institution. 

It  is  often  supposed  that  Oxford  University  is  enormously 
wealthy.  It  owns  a  great  deal  of  property,  to  be  sure,  but  much  of 
this  is  farm  land,  which,  owing  to  the  agricultural  depression  in 
England,  yields  only  a  small  return.  The  annual  income  of  the 
University  is  about  $365,000,  which  represents  the  interest  from 
trust  funds  and  investments,  the  fees  from  students  and  the  profits 
of  the  University  Press,  but  the  expenses  of  the  University  are  very 
heavy.  It  has  a  large  number  of  salaried  oflScers,  professors,  lec- 
turers and  teachers.  It  has  libraries  and  museums  to  maintain  but 
it  does  not  have  among  its  benefactors  such  men  as  Mr,  Carnegie 
and  Mr.  Rockefeller. 

Accordingly,  we  are  not  surprised  that  the  University  is  all  the 
time  pleading  poverty,  and  complaining  that  from  lack  of  money  it 
is  unable  to  make  such  additions  to  its  equipment  as  it  greatly 
needs. 


The  University  Idea  at  Oxford. 

In  its  organization  and  in  its  system  of  government  Oxford  dif- 
fers from  our  older  American  Universities,  such  as  Harvard  and 
Yale  and  from  those  that  are  younger,  such  as  Johns  Hopkins  and 
Chicago.  We  have  nothing  just  like  it  and  perhaps  we  are  just  as 
well  off  as  if  we  had.  When  an  American,  who  is  fairlj^  familiar 
with  the  educational  institutions  of  the  United  States,  looks  into 
the  University  system  established  at  Oxford,  he  is  at  first  inclined 


13 


to  ask  why  it  is  called  a  system  at  all.  It  seems  a  perfect  chaos, 
and  he  is  tempted  to  think  that  those  who  devised  it  must  have 
been  endowed  with  a  special  genius  for  complicating  matters.  The 
relations  between  the  University  and  the  colleges  are  extremely 
complex. 

Oxford  University  is  a  great  corporation  that  comprises  a  num- 
ber of  smaller  corporations  called  colleges.  It  is  invested  with  cer- 
tain powers  and  privileges  possessed  by  no  one  of  the  colleges. 

The  University  makes  its  own  laws  and  chooses  its  own  officers. 
It  has  its  own  buildings,  which,  by  the  way,  are  surprisingly  few. 
It  has  its  own  institutions,  such  as  the  Bodleian  Library  and  the 
Ashmolean  Museum.  It  has  its  own  resources,  which  it  manages  as 
it  thinks  best.  It  supports  a  corps  of  professors  and  lecturers.  It 
offers  scholarships  and  prizes,  which  are  distinct  from  those  offered 
by  the  colleges.  It  exacts  from  all  students  the  payment  of  cer- 
tain fees.  It  may  bring  1o  trial  and  punish  any  student  for  civil  or 
criminal  offenses.  Like  Cambridge  it  has  had  the  right  since  the 
reign  of  James  I  to  have  two  representatives  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons. It  may  nominate  candidates  to  certain  livings  in  the  Church 
of  England.  It  alone  possesses  the  right  to  confer  degrees  and 
decide  who  are  worthy  to  receive  them. 

Unlike  the  great  Universities  in  Germany  and  elsewhere  on 
the  Continent,  Oxford  dees  not  receive  a  single  penny  from  the  State 
for  its  support,  and  yet,  self-governing  as  it  is,  Oxford  is  not  en- 
tirely independent  of  the  British  Government.  More  than  once 
the  House  of  Commons  has  legislated  for  the  correction  of  abuses 
in  the  University.  In  1877  Parliament  passed  a  bill  which  aimed  to 
strengthen  the  University  as  distinct  from  the  colleges,  and  which 
for  this  purpose,  required  them  to  devote  a  part  of  their  income  to 
the  uses  of  the  University. 

The  University,  then,  has  prerogatives  that  are  many  and  great. 
Still,  without  its  colleges,  it  would  be  very  much  like  an  apple  tree 
without  any  limbs  for  apples  to  grow  on.  The  most  of  those  that 
belong  to  the  University  belong  also  to  the  colleges.  Each  col- 
lege is  a  corporate  body  with  a  charter,  giving  it  certain  rights  and 
privileges.  It  has  its  own  buildings,  funds,  officers  and  staff  of 
instructors.  It  offers  scholarships  for  competition;  it  has  at  its 
disposal  a  number  of  livings  in  the  Established  Church.  It  decides 
whom  it  shall  admit  as  students,  it  requires  them  to  pay  certain 
fees  and  observe  rules  which  it  may  lay  down  as  supplementary  to 
those  of  the  University. 

It  is  natural  to  ask  if  an  arrangement  so  complicated  as  this 
does  not  lead  to  much  discussion,  some  concussion  and  to  an  occa- 
sional explosion.  How  can  the  University  and  a  college  get  along 
together  without  friction  and  without  infringing  upon  each  other's 
authority?  When  two  boys  are  on  the  back  of  the  same  horse  at 
the  same  time,  it  is  clear  enough  that  one  of  them  must  ride  in 
front.  At  Oxford  the  University  rides  in  front.  It  is  the  central 
government.    It  is  supreme. 

The  relation  between  the  University  and  the  colleges  is  some- 
what like  that  between  our  government  at  Washington  and  our  state 
governments.  The  colleges  at  Oxford  have  rights  with  which  the 
University  does  not  interfere;  it  has  rights  upon  which  they  do 
not  trespass.  The  most  of  the  instruction  received  by  the  great 
majority  of  the  students  is  given  within  the  colleges  to  which  they 
belong,  and  yet  no  college  has  the  power  to  confer  a  degree.  That 
can  be  done  only  by  the  University.  It  is  the  business  of  the  Uni- 
versity and  of  it  alone  to  make  out  the  course  of  study  which  a 

14 


young  man  must  pursue  in  order  to  be  graduated.  It  is  the  chief 
business  of  the  colleges  to  prepare  their  students  for  the  examina- 
tions which  the  University  holds,  and  which  it  requires  all  stu- 
dents to  pass  before  it  will  give  them  a  degree. 

The  University  has  officers  charged  with  the  duty  of  preserving 
order  within  its  precincts,  but  these  officers  cannot  lay  the  weight 
of  their  hand  upon  a  student  if  he  is  disorderly  within  the  college 
to  which  he  belongs.  Their  authority  stops  at  the  college  gate.  The 
University  provides  lectures  for  those  who  are  members  of  col- 
leges as  well  as  for  others,  but  it  cannot  compel  a  college  student 
to  attend  these  lectures  if  he  does  not  wish  to  do  so,  for  he  may 
prefer  to  receive  all  his  instruction  within  his  college. 

In  short,  the  University  and  the  college  have  much  in  common. 
Each  makes  concessions  and  grants  privileges  to  the  other.  As  be- 
tween the  two,  however,  the  University  has  the  right  of  way.  It 
holds  the  reins. 

Besides  the  twenty-one  colleges  at  Oxford,  there  are  a  few 
smaller  societies  that  are  a  part  of  the  University.  There  is  St. 
Edmund  Hall,  the  only  survivor  at  Oxford  of  the  medieval  halls,  of 
which  in  the  years  long  gone  there  was  a  large  number.  St.  Ed- 
mund Hall  differs  from  all  the  older  colleges  in  that  it  is  very 
much  smaller,  has  no  Fellows  and  is  not  incorporated.  Its  Principal 
is  nominated  by  Queen's  College  and  some  day  it  will  be  merged 
into  that  college  wholly  or  in  part.  There  are  also  five  Private 
Halls,  each  under  the  direction  of  a  Master  and  licensed  by  the 
University.  These  are  of  recent  origin  and  are  small  concerns. 
They  are  not  incorporated  and  have  no  Fellows  but  their  students, 
like  those  of  St.  Edmund  Hall,  have  all  the  privileges  of  the  Uni- 
versity and  are  eligible  to  all  its  degrees. 
In  order  to  prevent  the  colleges  from 
having  undue  influence  in  the  University, 
there  was  formed  in  1868,  under  its  direc- 
tion, a  body  of  undergraduates  who  are 
not  connected  with  any  of  the  colleges  and 
who  for  this  reason  are  called  Non-colleg- 
iate Students.  There  have  been  in  all 
about  3,000  of  these  since  1868.  They 
have  rooms.  They  are  under  the  direction 
of  officers  appointed   by    the  University, 


alen  Tower  and  College,  Oxford. 
15 


and  they  have  all  the    privileges   and   are   eligible  to  all  the  honors 
of  the  University. 

The  Government  of  the  University. 

The  government  of  Oxford  is  in  the  hands  of  what  is  called 
Convocation,  a  body  of  about  6,000  men.  These  are  Oxford  gradu- 
ates and  are  all  those  Masters  of  Arts,  Doctors  of  Civil  Law,  Doctors 
of  Medicine  and  Doctors  of  Divinity,  who  pay  to  the  University  a 
yearly  fee  of  $5.00  and  who  keep  their  names  on  the  books  of  their 
colleges. 

Of  course,  the  most  of  these  m.en  do  not  live  in  Oxford  and  so 
there  is  a  smaller  body  called  the  Congregation  of  the  University 
of  Oxford.  This  is  composed  of  the  Heads  of  Colleges  or  College 
Presidents,  as  we  should  say,  the  Professors,  certain  other  ex-officio 
members  and  those  members  of  Convocation  who  have  resided  in 
Oxford  a  certain  specified  time. 

There  is  another  and  still  smaller  body,  known  as  the  Heb- 
domedal  Council,  consisting  of  the  Chancellor  of  the  University,  the 
Vice  Chancellor,  the  ex-Vice  Chancellor,  for  one  year  after  his  retire- 
ment from  the  office  of  Vice  Chancellor,  the  two  Proctors  and 
eighteen  members  chosen  by  the  Congregation.  Those  thus  chosen 
are  six  of  the  College  Presidents,  six  Professors  and  six  who  have 
been  members  of  Convocation  five  years. 

These  are  the  three  legislative  bodies  of  the  University.  It 
Is  the  exclusive  right  of  the  Hebdomedal  Council  to  initiate  all  legis- 
lation. No  man,  no  body  of  men,  can  make  a  proposal  to  Convoca- 
tion without  first  securing  the  approval  of  the  Council.  It  is  the 
prerogative  of  the  Congregation  to  modify,  adopt  or  reject  any 
measure  submitted  to  it  by  the  Council.  The  measure  then  goes 
to  Convocation,  where  it  is  either  rejected  or  adopted  without 
amendment. 

Convocation  has  other  powers  to  exercise.  It  chooses  the  two 
men  who  represent  the  University  in  the  House  of  Commons.  With- 
out its  approval  no  petition  can  be  made  to  Parliament  by  any  per- 
sons in  the  University.  Without  its  consent  the  seal  of  the  Uni- 
versity cannot  be  put  upon  any  document.  It  alone  has  the  power 
to  confer  honorary  degrees. 

There  is  a  body  that  has  a  part  to  perform  in  the  conferring 
of  ordinary  degrees,  such  as  B.  A.,  upon  those  who,  by  passing  the 
University  examination  have  been  judged  by  the  University  to  be 
worthy  of  degrees.  This  body  igi  called  the  Ancient  House  of  the 
Congregation  and  consists  of  the  College  Presidents,  the  University 
Examiners,  the  Professors  and  a  number  of  others.  What  this 
House  does,  however,  is  a  mere  matter  of  form  because  the  Uni- 
versity has  already  by  its  examinations  decided  who  are  entitled 
to  receive  degrees. 


The  Officials  of  the  University. 

The  chief  executive  officer  of  the  University  is  the  Chancellor. 
He  is  always  some  man  of  royal  birth  or  some  distinguished  mem- 
ber of  the  nobility,  like  the  late  Marquis  of  Salisbury,  who  held  the 
office  for  many  years  before  his  death,  or  like  the  present  Chancellor, 
the  Right  Honorable  Viscount  Goschen.  The  Chancellor  is  elected 
by  Convocation  and  for  life.     He  does  not  reside  in  Oxford,  how- 

16 


Addison's  Walk,  Magdalen  College. 


ever,  and  is  seldom  seen  there.  His  power  is  for  the  most  part 
delegated  by  him  to  his  deputy,  the  Vice  Chancellor,  who,  at  present, 
is  the  Rev.  W.  W.  Merry,  D.  D.,  Rector  of  Lincoln  College. 

The  Vice  Chancellor,  the  acting  head  of  the  University,  is  nomi- 
nated every  year  by  the  Chancellor  from  among  the  College  Presi- 
dents. It  is  customary  for  him  to  be  renominated  three  times  ana 
to  hold  office  four  years.  He  is  invested  with  great  authority  and 
his  responsibilities  are  heavy.  He  is  charged  with  the  general 
oversight  of  the  University.  It  is  his  duty  to  preserve  order  and  to 
see  that  the  laws  of  the  University  are  carried  out.  He  is  a  civil 
magistrate,  too,  a  justice  of  the  peace,  even  though  he  be  a  clergy- 
man. He  has  a  court  called  the  Vice  Chancellor's  Court,  before 
which  offending  students  are  brought.  In  civil  cases  it  is  in  his 
power  to  imprison  a  member  of  the  University  who  has  been  proven 
guilty.  He  may  also  in  some  cases  prosecute  those  who  have  com- 
mitted criminal  offenses.  In  many  things,  moreover,  he  is  a  law 
unto  himself. 

The  authority  of  the  Vice  Chancellor  is  not  confined  to  the 
University  alone:  it  extends  into  the  City  of  Oxford.  He  may  order 
objectionable  women  to  leave  the  city  and  they  will  have  to  go. 
Within  Oxford  and  for  miles  around  it  no  public  entertainment,  such 
as  one  by  a  theatrical  company,  can  be  given,  except  with  the  Vice 
Chancellor's  permission.  If  students  are  arrested  on  the  streets 
of  Oxford  by  one  of  the  city  policemen  for  disorderly  conduct,  they 
may,  if  they  ask  for  it,  be  tried  in  the  Vice  Chancellor's  Court  in- 
stead of  in  the  city  police  court. 

In  the  discharge  of  his  duties  the  Vice  Chancellor  has  the  as- 
sistance of  several  lesser  officials.  Of  these  the  Senior  Proctors, 
two  in  number,  and  graduates  of  the  University,  are  very  important. 
They  are  elected  every  year  by  the  colleges  in  rotation  and  they  are 

17 


charged  with  the  duty  of  seeing  to  it  that  discipline  is  enforced 
throughout  the  "University.  They  have,  however,  other  duties  to 
perform. 

They  are  assisted  by  four  Junior  Proctors  and  by  a  number  of 
petty  officials  that  bear  the  unamiable  name  of  "Bull  Dogs."  Much 
of  what  the  Proctors  have  to  do  in  the  way  of  ferreting  out  mischief 
and  preserving  order  is,  of  course,  unpleasant  to  them  as  well  as 
to  those  whom  they  detect  in  acts  of  disorder.  It  would  require, 
I  should  think,  a  peculiar  combination  of  qualities  to  make  a  Proc- 
tor entirely  proficient  in  the  discharge  of  his  official  duties  and 
at  the  same  time  an  object  of  passionate  and  universal  affection 
among  the  students. 

There  are  also  several  standing  committees  appointed  by  Convo- 
cation. These  are  called  Delegacies,  and  the  members,  Delegates, 
because  in  conjunction  with  the  Vice  Chancellor  they  are  delegated 
to   exercise   administrative  power. 


Residence  Within  the  University. 

In  the  city  of  Oxford,  in  just  about  the  centre  of  it,  there  is  a 
place  which  is  full  of  historic  interest.  It  is  where  four  of  the  prin- 
cipal streets — Queen,  High,  Cornmarket  and  St.  Aldates — form  a 
junction.  This  open  space  is  known  as  Carfax.  On  the  northwest 
corner  stands  a  tower  of  great  antiquity.  Carfax  bears  a  very 
important  relation  to  Oxford  University  in  respect  to  what  is  called 
"residence  within  the  University." 

To  reside  in  the  University  does  not,  of  necessity,  mean  to  live 
in  one  of  its  buildings,  nor  on  its  grounds,  nor  in  one  of  its  col- 
leges, but  it  means  living  as  a  member  of  it.  somewhere  "within 
a  mile  and  a  half  of  Carfax/'  somewhere  within  the  circle  of  which 
Carfax  is  the  centre.  So  exacting  are  the  University  authorities  in 
this  matter  that  if  a  student  roomed  and  boarded  ten  feet  outside 
this  circle,  he  would  not  be  considered  a  resident  of  the  University 
in  the  official  sense.  How  it  would  be  if  he  were  staying  up  in  the 
air  more  than  a  mile  and  a  half  above  Carfax  I  must  confess  myself 
unable  to  say. 


Term  Keeping. 

The  academic  year  at  Oxford  is  divided  into  four  terms.  The 
first  Is  Michaelmas  term,  which  extends  from  October  10  to  De- 
cember 17.  Hilary,  sometimes  called  also  Lent,  term  begins  Janu- 
ary 14  and  continues  to  the  Saturday  before  Palm  Sunday,  which 
is  the  Sunday  just  before  Easter.  Michaelmas  and  Hilary  are  the 
two  long  terms. 

Easter  term  extends  from  the  Wednesday  after  Easter  to  the 
Friday  before  Whit  Sunday,  which  is  the  seventh  Sunday  after 
Easter.  Trinity  term  begins  the  Saturday  before  Whit  Sunday  and 
ends  on  the  Saturday  following  the  first  Tuesday  in  July  but  it  is 
generally  extended  to  the  end  of  July.  Easter  and  Trinity  are  the 
two  short  terms  and  although  the  latter  begins  the  day  after  the 
former  ends,  they  are  regarded  as  two  terms. 

"Keeping  a  term"  means  residing  "within  the  University"  as  a 
member  of  it  during  a  term,  Residence  within  the  University  for 
at  least  twelve  terms  is  required  of  every  candidate  for  the  degree 
of  B.  A,     So  far  as  the  University  is  concerned,  he  may  be  credited 

18 


Oriel  College  Quadrangle. 


with  four  terms  of  residence  if  he  keeps  two  of  them  in  one  year 
and  two  some  other  year.  The  University  does  not  require  him  to 
l^eep  his  terms  continuously. 

Furthermore,  it  is  not  absolutely  necessary  for  him  to  reside 
all  the  weeks  in  each  of  the  terms.  If  he  lives  within  the  University 
six  weeks  in  each  of  the  two  long  terms  and  three  weeks  in  each 
of  the  two  short  terms  or  eighteen  weeks  in  all,  he  is  considered 
to  have  been  in  residence  four  terms. 


CHAPTER  III. 

Examinations. 

What  must  a  young  man  do  in  order  to  be  graduated  froni 
Oxford  University  and  receive  from  it  the  degree  of  B.  A.,  that  is, 
Bachelor  of  Arts?  He  must  gain  admission  to  some  one  of  the 
colleges,  some  one  of  the  halls  or  to  the  body  of  non-collegiate  stu- 
dents; he  must  reside  'Svithin  the  University"  twelve  terms  from 
the  date  of  his  matriculation,  which  means  about  three  years;  he 
must  pay  to  the  University  certain  fees  and,  most  important  of  all, 
he  must  pass  the  three  examinations  held  by  the  University. 

The  first  of  these  examinations  is  called  Responsions,  a  term 
which  has  come  down  from  the  Middle  Ages  and  which  may  sound 
rather  strange  to  us  Americans.  Responsions  are  simply  a  written 
examination  in  certain  specified  subjects.  Among  Oxford  students 
they  go  also  by  the  name  of  "Smalls,"  for  they  are  small  as  com- 
pared with  the  last  of  the  three  examinations.  Responsions  are  held 
four  times  a  year.     The  subjects  for  examination  are  mathematics, 


19 


Latin  and  Greek.     No  English,   no  science,  no   French,  no  German 
is  required. 

The  candidate  must  have  tlie  whole  of  arithmetic.  He  must 
pass  in  algebra  up  to  quadratic  equations  or  in  the  first  two  books 
of  Euclid's  Elements-  He  must  pass  in  Latin  Grammar,  Greek 
Grammar  and  Latin  Prose  Composition.  He  must  be  examined  in 
some  one  book  chosen  by  himself  from  some  one  of  six  Greek  auth- 
ors, and  in  some  one  book  chosen  by  himself  from  some  one  of  five 
Latin  authors. 

In  order  that  there  be,  no  misunderstanding  of  this  important* 
matter,  perhaps  I  had  better  quote  from  the  Examination  Statutes 
of  Oxford  University  just  what  they  have  to  say  in  regard  to  this 
last  part  of  Responsions: 

"Any  of  the  following  portions  of  the  undermentioned  authors 
will  be  accepted  as  a  book:  De7nosthenes:  (1)  Philippics  1-111 
and  Olynthiacs  1-111;  or  (2)  De  Corona.  Euripides,  any  two  of  the 
following  plays:  Hecuba,  Medea,  Alcestis,  Bacchae.  Homer:  (1) 
niad,  1-5  or  2-6;  or  (2)  Odyssey,  1-5  or  2-6.  Plato:  Apology  and 
Crito.  Sophocles:  Antigone  and  Ajax.  Xenophon:  Anabasis,  1-4 
or  2-5.  Caesar:  De  Bello  Gailieo,  1-4.  Cioero:  (1)  Philippics  1,  2; 
or  (2)  In  Catilinam  1-4,  and  In  Verrem  Actio  I;  or  (3)  Pro  Murena 
and  Pro  Lege  Manilla;  or  (4)  De  Senectute  and  De  Amicitia. 
Horace:  (1)  Odes  1-4;  or  (2)  Satires;  or  (3)  Epistles.  Livy: 
Books  5  and  6.  Virgil:  (1)  the  Bucolics,  with  books  1-3  of  the 
Aeneid;   or  (2)   the  Georgics;   or  (3)   the  Aeneid,  books  1-5  or  2-6." 

In  this  connection  it  deserves  to  be  said  that  those  American 
students  who  pass  the  examination  held  in  this  country  for  the 
purpose  of  testing  their  fitness  to  pursue  a  course  of  study  at 
Oxford  and  who  are  chosen  Rhodes  Scholars  will  be  excused  from 
Responsions  when  they  take  up  their  residence  in  Oxford. 

Supposing  that  a  young  man  has  passed  Responsions,  what  is 
his  standing?  Is  he  a  member  of  the  University?  Not  by  that 
simply,  strange  as  it  may  seem  to  us.  Before  he  can  be  a  member 
of  the  University,  the  greater  body,  he  must  be  admitted  to  some 
one  of  the  lesser  bodies,  that  is,  to  some  college  or  some  hall  or  to 
the  body  of  non-collegiate  students.  How  is  that  to  be  done?  By 
complying  with  the  requirements  laid  down  by  the  one  of  these 
lesser  bodies  he  wishes  to  enter,  for  each  of  these  organizations  has 
the  right  to  decide  whom  it  shall  admit. 

What  are  these  requirements?  They  vary  with  the  different 
bodies,  being  much  harder  in  some  than  in  others.  St.  Edmund 
Hall,  which  is  very  easy  to  enter,  will  accept  a  student  v/ithout  any 
formal  examination,  even  if  he  has  not  passed  Responsions.  If  he 
is  through  Responsions,  he  may  be  admitted  to  the  body  of  non- 
collegiate  students  without  any  further  examination.  For  the  same 
reason  he  may  be  matriculated  at  some  of  the  colleges  because  they 
regard  Responsions  as  equivalent  to  their  entrance  examination. 
Balliol  and  a  few  other  colleges,  however,  will  not  admit  him  until 
he  has  been  duly  tested  in  certain  studies  additional  to  those  he 
had  in  Responsions. 

After  he  has  become  a  member  of  a  college  or  hall  or  the  body 
of  non-collegiate  students,  the  University  will  make  him  one  of  its 
members  without  further  question.  A  young  man  is  admitted  to 
membership  in  the  University  not  by  passing  Responsions  but  by 
obtaining  membership  in  one  of  the  lesser  bodies  that  are  a  part 
of  the  University.  Responsions  are  prerequisite  to  the  other  Uni- 
versity examinations  but  they  are  not  prerequsite  to  matriculation 
in  the  University. 

20 


Magdalen  College. 

The  University  will  admit  to  membership  without  regard  to 
nationality  or  religious  creed.  One  sees  in  Oxford  a  great  many  stu- 
dents from  India  and  other  parts  of  Asia.  An  applicant  for  admis- 
sion may  not  be  willing  to  subscribe  to  the  Thirty-nine  Articles 
of  the  Established  Church,  he  may  be  a  heathen,  but  if  he  is  ot 
good  moral  character  and  of  sufficient  attainments  in  scholarship, 
there  is  not  a  degree  in  the  gift  of  the  University  to  which  he  is 
not  eligible,  except  those  in  theology.  These  are  conferred  on  none 
who  are  not  members  of  the'*  Established  Church  of  England. 

Every  college  in  Oxford  prefers  that  the  student  pass  Respon- 
sions  before  he  comes  to  it  for  admission.  He  may  do  this  and 
he  ought  by  all  means  to  do  so,  because  then  he  will  be  free  to  pre- 
pare himself  for  the  second  test  which  the  University  requires 
This  comes  in  the  middle  of  his  second  year  and  is  called  the  First 
Public  Examination  or  Moderations  or  "Mods"  for  short.  After 
he  has  passed  this  examination,  he  may  go  on  to  the  third  and  final 
test  to  which  he  must  submit.  This  is  known  as  the  Second  Public 
Examination  or  "Greats,"  and  may  be  taken  at  the  end  of  the 
third  year. 


Passmen  and  Honormen. 

There  are  said  to  be  more  than  four  thousand  ways  of  gaining 
the  degree  of  B.  A.  at  Oxford.  Those  young  men  v/ho  are  candi- 
dates for  this  degree  are  divided  into  two  classes — Passmen  and 
Honormen  or  Classmen,  as  they  are  called  at  Oxford.  A  Passman 
is  one  who  does  the  smallest  amount  of  work  required  for  the 
degree  of  B.  A.  If  he  completes  this  work,  he  simply  passes.  He 
receives  his  B.  A.  and  that  is  all.  He  does  not  obtain  any  honors 
with  it.     He  has  far  less  to  do  than  have  the  Honormen,  who  aim 


21 


to  take  honors  along  with  their  B.  A.,  and  if  he  has  come  from  a 
good  preparatory  school,  where  he  was  thoroughly  drilled  i.n  Latin 
and  Greek,  he  may  complete  his  course  with  comparatively  little 
effort.  The  University  provides  for  the  Passman  courses  of  lec- 
tures which  are  distinguished  from  those  it  provides  for  Honormen. 

In  the  First  Public  Examination  the  Passman  submits  to  a 
written  test  in  the  elements  of  logic  or  the  elements  of  algebra  and 
geometry;  in  Latin  prose  composition;  in  three  books,  one  Latin 
and  two  Greek  or  two  Latin  and  one  Greek,  chosen  by  himself  from 
eight  Greek  authors  and  eight  Latin  authors.  He  is  also  required 
to  translate  passages  in  Latin  and  Greek  not  specially  prepared. 
Like  all  other  candidates  for  B.  A.  at  Oxford  he  must  pass  an 
examination  in  certain  portions  of  the  English  Bible.  If  he  objects 
to  this  for  reasons  of  conscience,  he  may  substitute  an  examination 
in  some  such  work  as  the  "Phaedo"  of  Plato,  which,  by  the  way, 
is  very  much  harder  than  the  required  portions  of  the  Bible. 

In  the  Second  Public  Examination  the  Passman  has  a  large 
number  and  a  great  variety  of  subjects  from  which  to  choose — 
Latin,  Greek,  modern  languages,  ancient  and  modern  history,  nat- 
ural science  and  the  elements  of  religious  knowledge.  These  are 
put  into  four  groups  of  which  he  must  choose  three.  If  he  passes 
satisfactorily  and  if  he  has  resided  in  Oxford  as  a  member  of  the 
University  for  twelve  terms,  he  may  receive  the  degree  of  B.  A. 

A  good  many  undergraduates  are  Passmen  from  necessity.  They 
are  obliged  to  do  some  kind  of  outside  work  in  order  that  they 
may  meet  their  expenses  at  the  University,  and  so  they  do  not  have 
the  time  to  do  the  larger  amount  of  study  required  for  B.  A.  with 
honors.  Others  are  Passmen  because  they  do  not  care  to  confine 
themselves  exclusively  to  the  studies  prescribed  by  the  University, 
These  young  men  do  not  waste  their  time  but  read  along  lines  that 
are  congenial  to  them  and  that  are  highly  valuable  in  point  of  gen- 
eral culture. 

Still  others  are  Passmen  because  they  are  not  burdened  with 
fondness  for  hard  work.  Much  study  is  a  weariness  to  their  flesh. 
They  prefer  to  spend  most  of  their  time  in  sporting  or  loafing.  Their 
chief  aim  is  merely  to  get  through  and  be  able  to  write  B.  A. 
after  their  name,  which  they  are  pretty  apt  to  do  in  season  and 
out  of  season.  They  hope  to  shine  in  fashionable  circles  but  they 
can  scarcely  be  classed  among  the  "utilities"  of  the  most  sensible 
society. 

Far  different  is  it  with  the  Honormen  or  Classmen.  Among 
these  are  found,  of  course,  the  great  majority  of  the  most  brilliant 
and  industrious  students  of  the  University.  Of  these  it  is  hardly 
necessary  to  say  there  is  a  very  large  number  at  Oxford.  Some  of 
the  colleges — Balliol,  New  and  University — require  all  their  under- 
graduates to  work  for  honors.  They  do  not  wish  to  have  mere  Pass- 
men within  their  walls. 


The  Honor  Schools. 

Undergraduates  may  become  Honormen  in  the  First  Public 
Examination.  This  means,  of  course,  that  their  examinations  will 
be  harder  than  that  of  mere  Passmen.  In  the  Second  Public  Exam- 
ination, which  is  the  final  one,  they  may  attain  distinction  in  the 
Final  Honor  Schools,  an  honor  school  being  an  examination  for  the 
attainment  of  honors  in  a  certain  class  of  studies.  There  is  such  a 
school  or  examination  in  each  of  the  following  subjects:     Li.terae 


22 


■MlilMlliiliiiiiMiiiii'i  iniiiiiiin  i  iiiiwmiii  i  iiiii  mii  m 

Cloister  and  Tower,   Magdalen  College. 


Himianiores  or  "Lit  Hum"  as  the  students  call  it,  Mathematics,  Nat- 
ural Science,  Jurisprudence,  Modern  History,  Theology,  Oriental 
Studies  and  English  Language  and  Literature,  eight  in  all. 

The  last  of  these  was  the  last  to  be  established,  which  was  done 
so  late  as  1896,  and  even  yet  among  the  undergraduates  it  has 
nothing  like  the  extended  and  cordial  recognition  to  which  it  is 
entitled.  Although  the  University  has  had  among  its  professors 
such  noted  scholars  in  English  as  John  Earle,  comparatively  few 
students  enter  this  Honor  School. 

Strange  as  it  may  seem  to  us  Am^ericans,  the  Honor  School  in 
Natural  Science  at  Oxford  is  generally  unpopular.  The  more  re- 
cently developed  sciences  are  ignored  by  the  great  majority  of  the 
students.  To  the  School  of  Science  has  been  given  the  unfragrant 
nanae  of  "stinks,"  and  so  little  is  such  a  study  as  chemistry  thought 
of  that  the  chemical  laboratories  are  called  "stink  siiops."  The 
equipment  of  the  colleges  for  teaching  science,  as  a  rule,  is  shame- 
fully poor,  while  the  facilities  of  the  University  for  giving  instruc- 
tion in  electricity  and  other  such  important  studies  are  almost 
pitiably  meagre,  at  least,  as  compared  with  the  splendid  facilities  in 
many  of  our  American  schools  and  colleges.  One  reason  for  this 
condition  of  things,  as  the  Vice  Chancellor  said  in  public  last  sum- 
mer, is  that  the  University  is  without  the  money  to  strengthen  this 
department  as  he  and  many  others  associated  with  him  would  very 
much  like  to  do. 

One  of  the  very  best  Honor  Schools  is  that  in  modern  history, 
which  includes  the  history  of  England,  general  European  history, 
special  historical  subjects,  political  science  and  political  economy. 
The  importance  and  the  popularity  of  this  Honor  School  are  suf- 
ficiently indicated  by  the  fact  that  every  year  it  attracts  about  one 
hundred  and  twentv  students. 


23 


The  Honor  School  which  is  the  oldest  and  the  most  highly 
regarded  is  the  Final  Classical  School  or  the  School  of  Literae 
Humaniores.  In  the  Oxford  vernacular  it  goes  by  the  name  of 
"Greats,"  for  it  is  great  in  more  ways  than  one.  A  large  proportion 
of  those  who  compete  for  honors  in  the  final  examinations  are  to 
be  found  in  this  School,  and  they  would  rather  reach  distinction  in 
this  than  in  any  other. 

To  prepare  for  this  examination  involves  the  hardest  work  and 
engages  the  energies  of  the  ablest  undergraduates.  It  is  the  School 
in  which  the  fullest  reverence  is  paid  to  the  ancient  classics.  It 
includes  the  Latin  and  the  Greek  languages,  the  histories  of  ancient 
Greece  and  Rome,  logic,  together  with  the  outlines  of  moral  and 
political  philosophy. 

The  written  examination  usually  lasts  five  and  a  half  hours  a 
day  for  six  days.  The  examiners  lay  very  great  stress  upon  the 
English  the  candidate  employs  in  expressing  himself  and  so  he  has 
every  inducement  to  prepare  himself  especially  in  this  matter.  He 
must  have  not  only  a  thorough  knowledge  of  what  he  is  examined 
in  but  also  the  ability  to  tell  in  good  English  what  he  knows.  If  he 
is  unable  to  do  this,  he  cannot  receive  the  highest  nor  the  next  to 
the  highest  honors.  About  three  weeks  after  the  written  examina- 
tion the  candidate  presents  himself  for  a  viva  voce  or  oral  examina- 
tion. This  may  vary  in  length  from  a  few  minutes  to  an  hour  or 
more  according  as  the  examiners  think  necessary. 

Firsts  and  Double  Firsts. 

The  names  of  those  candidates  who  in  this  verj^  severe  testing 
of  their  knowledge  have  shown  unusual  proficiency  in  scholarship 
are  put  into  four  classes  according  to  relative  merit.  This  is  why 
they  are  called  Classmen  in  distinction  from,  m.ere  Passmen.  Those 
students  whose  names  appear  in  the  first  or  highest  class  are  said 
to  have  won  a  "first  class"  or  a  "first"  in  Literae  Humaniores.  In 
the  first  class  there  may  be  twenty-five  or  more.  The  names  of 
those  in  each  of  the  four  classes  are  arranged,  not  according  to 
grades  but  alphabetically,  and  are  so  published.  What  candidate 
did  better  than  all  others  is  not  stated.  He  is  merely  one  of  sev- 
eral "firsts." 

A  candidate  for  honors  may  enter  more  than  one  Final  Honor 
School  and  if  he  wins  a  "first"  in  this  also,  he  is  called  a  "double 
first."  This  is  the  honor  won  at  Oxford  by  Mr.  Gladstone,  the  great 
English  statesman.  From  half  a  dozen  to  a  dozen  of  "double  firsts" 
are  awarded  every  year.  One  who  has  taken  two  "firsts"  in  his 
Final  or  Second  Public  Examination  may  have  taken  two  "firsts" 
in  his  First  Public  Examination,  in  which  case  we  should  consider 
him  pretty  liberally  supplied  with  "firsts."  Moreover,  in  Oxford  the 
standing  of  a  college  in  point  of  scholarship  is  determined  by  the 
number  of  "firsts"  it  takes  in  proportion  to  the  whole  number  of 
students  it  has. 

The  regulations  at  Oxford  for  the  award  of  honors  are  very  strict 
and  do  not  offer  any  encouragement  to  indolence.  If  an  undergrad- 
uate wishes  to  take  the  degree  of  B,  A.  with  honors  in  one  Final 
Honor  School,  he  must  do  so  in  four  years  and  if  he  desires  to  win 
a  "double  first"  he  is  required  to  do  it  in  five  years.  He  cannot  stay 
there  ten  or  twelve  years  in  continuous  study  for  these  honors.  He 
must  be  up  and  doing. 

The  examination-system  of  which  so  much  is  made  at  Oxford, 
excellent  as  it  is  in  many  respects,  is  not  without  an  element  of 

24 


Worcester  College. 

unfairness.  Let  me  specify.  The  candidate  for  B.  A.  with  honors 
has  vastly  more  work  to  do  than  mere  Passmen  have,  and  yet  there 
is  nothing  in  his  degree  to  indicate  this.  It  would  seem,  therefore, 
as  if  in  justice  there  ought  to  be  for  him  some  degree  higher  than 
B.  A.,  which  Passmen  as  well  as  he  receive.  Such,  however,  is 
not  the  case  and  many  Classmen  complain  of  this,  as  they  surely 
have  good  reason  for  doing. 

Graduation. 

About  six  hundred  of  the  thirty-five  hundred  students  there  are 
graduated  every  year.  The  ways  of  Oxford  in  the  matter  of  con- 
ferring degrees  are  different  from  ours.  With  us  this  is  usually  done 
on  Commencement  Day  at  the  end  of  the  college  year,  when  those 
who  have  completed  their  course  receive  diplomas  or  "sheep  skins," 
as  we  sometimes  hear  them  called.  In  Oxford  degrees  are  conferred 
in  the  Sheldonian  Theatre  at  the  beginning  and  end  of  every  term 
and  on  certain  other  days  in  the  year.  The  Latin  language  is  used 
in  the  ceremony.  Those  who  are  given  the  degree  of  B.  A.  do  not 
receive  a  diploma  but  they  may  get  from  the  Registrar  of  the  Uni- 
versity a  certificate  stating  that  they  have  been  admitted  to  this 
degree. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

The  College  Buildings. 

Each  of  the  colleges,  which,   by  the  way,  are  the   centers  of 
greatest  interest  in  Oxford,  has  its  own  buildings  and  it  does  what 


25 


it  pleases  with  them.  These  are  always  of  stone.  Usually  they  are 
not  very  high  and  are  arranged  on  the  sides  of  quadrangles.  Some 
of  the  college  walls  are  almost  entirely  covered  with  beautiful  ivy 
or  some  other  creeper.  I-q  many  of  the  dormitory  windows  or  just 
outside  them  the  students  have  boxes  filled  with  rich  soil,  out  of 
which  during  the  spring  and  summer  in  the  coaxing  English  cli- 
mate grow  flowers  of  the  most  brilliant  colors. 

Many  of  the  college  buildings  present  a  very  attractive  appear- 
ance but  a  few  of  them  with  their  thick  walls  and  narrow  windows 
look  like  old  prisons.  They  are  without  lavatories  or  any  of  the 
modern  conveniences  for  heating  and  lighting.  To  a  person  on  the 
outside  they  look  as  if  they  might  be  damp  and  gloomy  enough 
within.  Instead  of  iron  or  wooden  fences  to  help  enclose  vacant 
spaces  one  often  sees  stone  walls,  very  high  and  thick,  as  if  they 
were  meant  to  resist  a  siege.  1  should  think  them  quite  sufficient 
to  prevent  an  ordinary  student  from  leaving  or  from  entering  the 
college  grounds  except  by  the  authorized  way  of  the  college  gate. 
Still,  young  men  have  been  drawn  over  walls  higher  than  these  by 
some  object  of  attraction  on  the  other  side. 

Some  of  the  quadrangles  at  Oxford  are  very  delightful.  This  is 
true  particularly  of  the  spacious  one  at  Christ  Church  with  its 
grass  so  neatly  kept  and  velvet-like.  Our  sense  of  beauty  is  charmed 
by  the  loveliness  of  the  gardens  at  Wadham,  New,  Worcester  and 
St.  John's.  To  the  lover  of  nature  and  art  there  is  no  more  en- 
chanting place  in  all  Oxford  than  Magdalen  College  with  its  elms, 
its  lawns,  its  shaded  walks,  its  deerpark,  its  impressive  buildings, 
and  with  its  tower  so  lofty,  so  finely  pinnacled  and  rich  in  quiet 
splendor. 

There  are  some  things  that  we  are  as  certain  to  find  in  every 
Oxford  college  as  we  are  to  find  green  leaves  on  a  live  cherry  tree 
in  the  month  of  June.  There  is  the  kitchen,  which  explains  itself, 
as  do  the  Library  and  Lecture  rooms.  The  Buttery  is  where  butter, 
cheese,  milk  and  other  provisions  are  kept  for  the  use  of  the  stu- 
dents and  others  that  belong  to  the  college.  Here  is  stored  also 
the  beer,  for  the  reader  must  know  that  every  college  at  Oxford  fur- 
nishes its  students  with  beer.  The  Senior  Common  Room  is  where 
the  President,  the  Professors  and  other  college  graduates,  as  we 
should  call  them,  are  wont  to  meet  for  the  purpose  of  spending  a 
pleasant  hour  in  conversation,  drinking  and  smoking:  while  the 
Junior  Common  Room  is  the  place  in  which  the  undergraduates 
meet  for  a  similar  purpose. 

The  Chapels. 

As  every  college  was  founded  to  promote  religion  as  well  as 
learning,  it  has  a  chapel.  In  its  construction  this  is  adapted  to  the 
religious  service  prescribed  by  the  Church  of  England,  for  no  other 
service  would  be  permitted. 

Some  of  these  college  chapels  are  rich  in  histor'c  associations 
and  others,  in  addition  to  this,  are  marvels  of  architectural  beauty. 
Accordingly,  they  are  quite  as  interesting  to  visitors  as  almost  any 
other  places  in  Oxford.  .lust  inside  the  entrance  to  T.,incoln  College 
Chapel  is  the  very  pulpit  in  which  the  celebrated  John  Wesley 
preached  during  his  connection  with  the  college  as  chaplain.  Any 
one  with  a  taste  for  interior  decorations  will,  if  possible,  go  to  see 
the  fine  statues  in  the  Chapel  of  All  Souls  and  the  handsome  west 
window  of  New  College  Chapel.    But  the  most  magnificent  chapel  in 

26 


Stairway  in  the  Hall  of  Christ  Church. 


All  Souls  College  Chapel. 


27 


Oh   THE      "^ 

UNIVERSITY 

OF 


Oxford  is  the  one  that  belongs  to  Keble  College.  It  was  erected  at 
a  cost  of  more  than  $300,000.  The  surpassing  beauty  of  its  interior 
attracts  a  great  many  persons  as  does  also  Mr.  Holman  Hunt's  fam- 
ous picture,  "The  Ught  of  the  World,"  which  is  there  and  which 
is  owned  by  the  college. 

The  Halls. 

Every  college  has  also  a  hall  or,  as  we  should  say,  a  dining  hall, 
where  the  members  of  the  college  take  their  dinner  at  seven  o'clock. 
The  tables  are  large  and  have  a  most  substantial  look.  Hard  and 
heavy  benches,  instead  of  chairs,  are  used  for  seating  the  students. 
At  one  end  of  the  hall  on  a  raised  platform  stands  a  table,  the  High 
Table,  as  it  is  called,  where  the  President  of  the  college,  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Faculty  and  other  college  graduates  sit  while  dining  in 
the  hall.  The  walls  are  usually  hung  with  portraits  of  persons 
who  are  remembered  with  gratitude  for  their  service  to  the  college, 
the  University  or  the  nation. 

Some  of  these  halls  are  much  more  attractive  than  others.  Wad- 
ham  has  a  very  fine  one.  The  one  at  Oriel  is  greatly  admired  for 
its  exterior  and  for  the  ceiling  of  oak  that  adorns  its  interior.  By 
far  the  largest  and  most  imposing  hall  at  Oxford,  however,  is  the 
one  at  Christ  Church.  It  is  reached  by  a  stairway  with  an  elegant 
stone  ceiling.  It  is  full  of  historic  interest  and  is  especially  rich  in 
its  collection  of  portraits. 


College  Officials. 

The  system  of  government  employed  in  a  college  at  Oxford 
differs  very  much  from  that  which  is  generally  found  in  our  Ameri- 
can colleges.  Many  customs  handed  down  from  the  Middle  Ages 
are  still  observed  there.  The  Oxford  methods  of  instruction  are 
unlike  ours,  and  undergraduate  life  there  within  the  college  walls 
might  seem  rather  unattractive  to  one  having  the  freedom  that  is 
allowed  undergraduates  in  our  larger  and  wealthier  universities  like 
Harvard. 

First  of  all  in  the  government  of  a  college  at  Oxford  is  the 
Head.  In  some  colleges  he  has  the  title  of  President;  in  some, 
W^Lrden;  in  some,  Master:  in  some.  Principal;  in  others,  Rector;  in 
still  others.  Provost,  while  in  one,  Christ  Church,  he  is  called  Dean. 
He  may  or  he  may  not  be  a  clergyman.  He  always  lives  on  the  col- 
lege grounds,  occupying  either  a  house  built  expressly  for  him  or  a 
set  of  rooms  in  one  of  the  large  college  buildings.  Thus  he  is  a  very 
near  man.  He  is  the  chief  executive  but  he  may  also  do  consider- 
able teaching.  He  usually  receives  a  salary  that  with  us  would  be 
regarded  as  rather  large.  At  Magdalen  the  stipend  of  the  President 
is  $10,000  a  year;  while  at  Worcester  the  Provost  is  paid  $3,500, 
which  is  the  smallest  sum  received  by  the  Head  of  a  college  at 
Oxford. 

The  success  of  a  college  depends,  of  course,  very  largely  upon 
the  kind  of  man  the  Head  is  known  to  be.  If  he  is  a  fine  scholar,  if 
he  is  tactful,  if  he  is  forceful  and  if  he  surrounds  himself  with  able 
teachers,  he  is  very  likely  to  make  his  college  a  power  in  the 
University.  The  leading  position  of  Balliol  at  Oxford  for  the  last 
fifty  years  and  more,  has  been  due  more  than  anything  else  to  the 
fact  that  it  has  had  as  its  Masters  such  men  as  the  late  Dr.  Jowett, 

28 


Somerville  College  (for  Women). 

the  eminent  translator  of  Plato,  and  such  teachers  of  philosophy  as 
the  late  T.  H.  Green. 

The  Head  is  elected  by  a  body  of  men  who  are  usually  called 
Fellows  and  who  are  associated  with  him  in  the  government  of  the 
college.  They  are  elected  from  among  those  graduates  who  are 
especially  promising  and  who  have  distinguished  themselves  in  some 
line  of  study.  To  one  who  gains  it  a  Fellowship  brings  a  great  deal 
of  honor  and  certain  important  privileges.  Besides,  it  entitles  him 
to  share  in  the  income  of  the  college  to  the  extent  of  $1,000  a  year. 

Most  of  the  colleges  have  from  eight  to  fifteen  Fellows.  Mag- 
dalen has  thirty,  while  All  Souls  is  made  up  almost  entirely  of  Fel- 
lows engaged  in  special  studies. 

Some  of  the  Fellows  do  not  live  on  the  college  grounds  and 
do  not  render  the  college  any  service  in  the  way  of  teaching.  Oth- 
ers are  Tutors,  have  rooms  in  the  college  and  for  the  teaching  witir' 
the  other  work  they  do,  receive  ac^^itional  compensation.  Ever:/ 
college  is  required  to  have  at  least  one  Chaplain  Fellow,  whose  dut- 
ies, of  course,  are  religious  in  their  character.  Moreover,  all  the 
Oxford  colleges  have  a  number  of  Honorary  Fellows,  who  are  gen- 
erally men  of  more  or  less  celebrity  and  who  reside  elsewhere  than 
at  Oxford.  They  receive  no  stipend  from  the  college  and  have  no 
part  in  the  government  of  it. 

A  college,  of  course,  has  other  officials  than  those  already  men- 
tioned. It  has  its  Lecturers.  The  Bursar  is  the  one  who  attends 
to  the  college  accounts,  hires  the  servants  and  has  many  kindred 
duties  to  perform.  He  is  a  very  important  man.  The  Dean,  who 
has  among  the  undergraduates  the  suggestive  name  of  the  "dagger," 
is  the  one  before  whom  they  are  summoned  if  they  have  violated 
college  rules  and  have  been  found  out.  He  reproves  them,  but  if 
their  offence  be  of  sufficient  gravity,  they  may  be  sent  away  from 
college  by  the  Head  and  the  Fellows. 

Classes  of  Undergraduates. 

Undergraduates  at  Oxford  are  not  divided  sharply  into  Fresh- 
men, Sophomores,  Juniors  and  Seniors,  as  the  custom  is  with  us. 
A  Freshman  there  is  one  who  has  just  come  to  college  or  who  has 


29 


been  in  it  less  than  a  year,  while  the  word  "Senior"  is  applied  to 
those  who  have  been  undergraduates  three  years  or  more. 

Next  below  the  Fellows  are  those  undergraduates  who  have  a 
share  in  the  income  of  the  college  and  who  are  generally  called 
Scholars  and  Exhibitioners,  the  former  ranking  a  little  higher  than 
the  latter.  Scholarships  and  Exhibitions,  as  they  are  styled,  are 
awarded  only  after  a  competitive  examination  held  by  the  college. 
As  a  general  thing  a  scholar  receives  about  $400  a  year  and  has 
certain  privileges  besides.  There  are,  however,  in  some  colleges 
Scholarships  worth  more  in  money  than  this.  An  Exhibitioner,  as  a 
rule,  receives  less  in  money  and  has  fewer  privileges  than  a  Scholar. 
Then  come  the  undergraduates  that  bear  the  name  of  Commoners. 
These  receive  no  stipend  from  the  college  but  enjoy  most  of  its 
prfvileges,  in  common  with  other  undergraduates,  by  paying  for 
them. 

Strictly  speaking,  the  members  of  a  college  are  those  who  par- 
ticipate in  its  income — the  Head,  the  Fellows,  the  Scholars,  and 
Exhibitioners.  As  a  general  rule,  however,  the  college  is  thought 
of  as  including  not  only  these  but  the  Commoners  and  even  its 
graduates  who  no  longer  live  in  Oxford. 


Where  and  How  Undergraduates  Live. 

Some  of  the  students  live  in  college  and  some  out  in  town. 
Those  in  the  college  buildings  room  alone  and  they  each  have  two 
or  three  rooms.  As  a  general  rule,  the  furniture  is  owned  by  the 
college  and  is  rented  to  the  occupant.  He  is  expected,  however,  to 
furnish  his  own  sheets,  pillow  cases,  table  cloths,  knives,  forks, 
spoons  and  other  such  belongings.  The  undergraduate  has  capable 
servants  to  care  for  his  room  and  minister  to  his  comfort.  One  of 
these,  who  is  called  a  "scout,"  serves  four  or  five  undergraduates 
who  happen  to  room  near  one  another.  He  awakes  them  in  the 
morning,  attends  to  their  fire  in  the  winter,  brings  them  their  break- 
fast and  never  forgets  to  take  the  perquisities  he  is  entitled  to  by 
college  custom. 

After  an  undergraduate  has  lived  in  college  two  years,  he  is 
usually  required  to  move  into  town  and  live  there  the  rest  of  his 
course.  This  is  done  to  give  the  new  students  the  moral,  social  and 
other  advantages  of  life  within  the  college  walls,  it  being  supposed 
that  he  has  duly  profited  by  these  advantages  during  the  two  years 
he  has  had  them.  He  may  not,  however,  room  in  town  where  he 
pleases  unless  he  pleases  to  room  in  some  place  approved  by  the 
University.  In  the  city  of  Oxford  are  hundreds  upon  hundreds  of 
persons  who  keep  boarding  houses  for  the  accommodation  of  the 
students.  These  houses  are  licensed  by  the  University  and  are 
called  "licensed  lodging  houses."  Their  sanitary  condition  is  care- 
fully looked  after  by  the  University  authorities.  The  persons  in 
charge  of  these  houses  must  be  of  the  best  moral  character  and 
they  are  required  to  send  to  the  University  every  week  a  written 
report,  giving,  among  other  things,  the  names  of  their  student-board- 
ers who  have  come  to  their  rooms  after  ten  o'clock  at  night  or  have 
gone  out  after  that  hour. 

Students  at  Oxford  have  four  meals  a  day — breakfast  right  after 
chapel,  which  is  at  eight;  lunch  at  one,  tea  at  four  and  dinner  at 
seven.  In  the  dining  hall  of  the  college  its  members  while  taking 
their  dinner  there  are  seated  according  to  their  rank.  The  Head, 
the  Fellov/s,  and  other  graduate  members  of  the  college  sit  at  the 

30 


West  Window,  New  College  Chapel,  Oxford. 

High  Table  on  a  raised  platform,  as  I  said  awhile  ago.  The  Scholars 
sit  by  themselves  at  a  table  which  has  the  first  rank  on  the  unraised 
floor  of  the  hall.  The  Exhibitioners,  too,  sit  by  themselves  and 
their  table  is  the  next  in  rank.  The  Commoners  dine  at  the  re- 
maining tables.  Other  meals  are  usually  served  to  the  students  in 
their  rooms. 

A  student  living  in  a  college  is  not  charged  so  much  a  Aveek 
for  board,  but  only  for  what  he  orders.  He  is  supplied  with  beer, 
and  in  some  colleges  with  wine  also.  What  he  orders  for  his  meals 
is  put  upon  his  college  bills.  These  are  rendered  every  week  but 
are  not  paid  until  the  end  of  the  term. 

Chapel  Attendance. 

In  Oxford  a  great  deal  of  attention  is  paid  to  religion  or  at  least 
to  the  forms  of  religion.  In  the  city  there  are  more  than  twenty 
places  of  worship  in  which  the  service  is  that  required  by  the 
Church  of  England,  and  in  the  majority  of  which,  by  the  way,  there 
is  far  more  sympathy  with  ritualism  than  with  evangelicism.  One 
of  these,  St.  Mary-the-Virgin's  Church,  more  commonly  called 
St.  Mary's,  is  the  University  Church.  Here  on  Sundays  during  term 
time  sermons  are  delivered  before  the  members  of  the  University. 
In  the  college  chapels  religious  services  are  conducted  every  Sunday 
and  every  w^eek  day  morning  except  on  Saturday,  when  there  are 
no  college  exercises. 

As  a  rule  undergraduates  are  expected  to  attend  these  chapel 
services.  In  some  of  the  colleges  those  undergraduates  who  have 
conscientious  scruples  against  doing  this  are  allowed  to  substitute 
what  is  called  attendance  at  roll  call.  They  meet  in  some  place  in 
the  college  other  than  the  chapel  and  merely  answer  to  their  names 
when  called  by  some  official  who  has  the  matter  in  charge.  Every 
student  unless  excused  must  attend  chapel  or  roll  call  six  times 
a  week  or  he  may  be  required  to  wait  a  term  before  he  is  permitted 
to  graduate.  The  music  in  ?ome  of  these  chapel  exercises  is  often 
excellent  but  the  rest  of  the  service  is  more  or  less  formal  and 
spiritless. 

Every  member  of  a  college,  in  certain  places  and  at  certain 
times,  wears  a  cap  and  gown,  which  by  some  distinctive  mark  shows 


31 


whether  he  is  a  Commoner,  a  Scho]f!^r,»a  Bachelor  of  Arts  or  a  Mas- 
ter of  Arts.  If  an  undergraduate  is  found  without  his  cap  and 
gown  when  he  is  required  by  college  la\y  to  have  them,  he  is  liable 

to  be  fined.  '•' 

)  \^-r  '  ' 

The  Tutors.  ^.. '  ; 

The  methods  of  instruction  in*  a  college  at  Oxford 'differ  from 
ours  in  many  respects.  As  soon  aa  ^  jCAing  man  enters  a  college 
there,  he  is  placed  under  the  personal  supervision  of  Tutors,  who 
are  members  of  the  college,  and  he  remfiins  under  them  all  through 
his  course.  He  is  not  one  of  a  large  class  meeting  their  instructors 
for  the  purposes  of  recitation  every*  day  or  a  certain  number  of 
times  every  week,  but  he  meets  his  Tutors  face  to  face  once  .or  twice 
a  week  by  regular  appointment,  reports  on  the  work  he  has  done,  is 
questioned  upon  it  and  receives  aavice  as  to  what  he  should  do  next. 
He  is  required  to  write  frequent  essays  and  submit  them  for  criti- 
cism. 

The  Tutor  imparts  formal  instruction  by  means  of  lectures. 
It  is  his  chief  business  to  prepare  his  students  for  the  two  prin- 
cipal examinations  which  the  University  requires  all  young  men  to 
pass  before  it  will  give  them  the  degree  of  B.  A.  In  our  colleges 
those  who  teach  a  student  are  the  ones  that  examine  him,  but  this 
is  not  the  way  at  Oxford.  The  Tutors  and  other  instructors  do  the 
teaching  but  the  University  does  the  examining.  The  Oxford  Tutor 
is  supposed  to  be  entirely  familiar  with  the  ground  over  which  his 
students  must  go  in  order  to  pass  these  examinations.  If  he  under- 
stands his  work,  and  if  he  does  it  as  he  ought,  he  watches,  directs 
and  stimulates  his  students,  and  his  reputation  as  a  Tutor  is  deter- 
mined by  the  rank  they  reach  in  the  University  examination. 

In  our  colleges  students  are  usually  examined  at  the  end  of 
the  term  in  all  the  studies  they  have  had  during  the  term,  but  that 
is  not  done  at  Oxford.  It  ought  to  be  said,  however,  that  in  most 
colleges  informal  examinations  called  "collections"  are  held  at 
certain  times  during  the  year,  but  these  are  not  so  much  for  the 
purpose  of  testing  proficiency  in  scholarship  as  for  ascertaining  how 
the  student  has  conducted  himself  in  reference  to  such  matters  as 
chapel  attendance. 

In  this  connection  it  may  be  said  that  during  the  summer  vaca- 
tion, which  is  called  the  "long  vacation"  most  of  the  undergradu- 
ates do  more  studying  than  they  do  while  the  University  is  in  ses- 
sion. Moreover,  in  some  of  the  colleges  at  collections  just  after 
the  opening  of  Michaelmas  term,  it  is  the  custom  to  question  under- 
graduates pretty  sharply  as  to  the  reading  they  have  done  during 
the  summer  vacation. 

The  undergraduate  who  has  rooms  in  college  .s  likely  to  be 
looked  after  pretty  sharply  by  the  Dean  and  the  Tutors,  especially 
if  he  is  inclined  to  be  disorderly,  neglectful  of  his  work  or  extrava- 
gant in  the  expenditure  of  money.  He  is  not  allowed  to  play  on  a 
musical  instrument  of  any  kind  except  during  certain  hours  of  the 
day.  He  is  required  to  be  within  the  college  gate  by  a  certain  hour 
in  the  evening,  and  he  is  not  permitted  to  leave  the  college  grounds 
in  the  evening  without  permission.  All  this  resembles  very  much 
the  government  and  discipline  that  we  find  in  our  American  board- 
mg  schools,  where  the  Principal  and  the  teachers,  living  under  the 
same  roof  with  their  pupils,  keep  a  watchful  eye  upon  all  their 
movements. 


32 


Christ  Church  Cathedral. 


Keble  College  Chapel — the  Finest  in  Oxford. 


33 


Localisms  and  College  Slang. 

Some  of  our  American  ways  appear  odd  to  the  English  and 
surely  some  of  theirs  appear  odd  enough  to  us.  They  and  we  use 
the  same  language  but  we  may  often  wonder  on  what  principle  they 
pronounce  some  of  their  proper  names.  When  we  hear  them  speak 
the  word  "Keswick,"  we  should  suppose  it  was  spelled  "Kez-ick." 
"Cholmondeley"  is  "chum-ly"  and  "Beauchamp"  is  "beech-am."  At 
Oxford  we  hear  pronunciations  that  strike  us  at  first  as  rather  pe- 
culiar. "Balliol"  is  "bayl-yel,"  and,  strangest  of  all,  "Magdalen"  is 
"maud-lin." 

The  visitor  at  Oxford  hears  many  words  that  are  unused  by  us 
as  well  as  words  that  are  employed  in  a  sense  unfamiliar  to  us. 
"Oxonian"  is  the  name  given  to  a  student  at  Oxford  to  distinguish 
him  from  one  at  Cambridge,  who  is  called  a  "Cantab."  A  "don"  is 
a  Tutor  or  Fellow.  A  "sconce"  is  a  fine.  "Battels"  means  the  same 
as  "bills"  with  us.  To  "reside"  or  "be  in  residence"  is  to  live  in 
Oxford  as  a  student  of  the  University.  To  "migrate"  is  to  leave  one 
college  and  become  a  member  of  another.  The  word  "school," 
which  is  generally  used  in  the  plural,  may  mean  one  of  three  things 
— the  group  of  studies  in  which  an  undergraduate  is  working  for 
honors,  the  examination  he  undergoes  in  order  to  win  honors  or  the 
place  where  the  examination  is  held.  If  a  young  man  is  studyin.;? 
to  take  honors,  he  is  said  to  "read"  for  honors,  and  a  college,  like 
Corpus  Christi,  where  the  undergraduates,  as  a  rule,  study  hard, 
is  called  a  "good  reading"  college. 

In  all  our  American  colleges  there  are  slang  words  and  phrases, 
which  have  sprung  up  as  naturally  as  do  weeds  in  a  vegetable  gar- 
den. A  few  years  ago  at  Princeton  if  a  student  made  a  very  excel- 
lent recitation,  he  was  said  to  "tear  his  shirt."  To  "cheese"  a  thing 
was  to  stop  doing  it. 

Oxford  also  has  its  slang  expressions.  Trousers  are  often  called 
"bags."  A  "pub"  is  a  public  place  like  a  restaurant.  A  "reputter" 
is  a  reputation.  An  "ekker"  is  an  exercise.  "Diggings"  are  the 
licensed  lodging  houses  in  which  many  of  the  students  live.  To  be 
"buffy"  is  to  be  intoxicated.  Examiners  "plough"  a  student  when 
they  refuse  to  pass  him.  To  "rag"  a  person  is  to  have  fun  at  his 
expense,  as  in  hazing  him,  for  example.  "Keeping  a  dirty  roller" 
means  reporting  at  8  a.  m.  for  roll  call  in  sleeping  costume,  ulster 
and  boots — a  breach  of  good  order  to  which  a  student  is  easily 
tempted  if  he  is  over  fond  of  his  bed  in  the  morning.  "Howlers" 
are  mistakes  in  examination  papers  so  serious  that  they  are  sup- 
posed to  make  the  examiner  howl  with  pain  or  rage  as  he  sees 
them.  The  Vice  Chancellor  of  the  University  is,  of  course,  a  man 
widely  known  for  virtue,  but  he  is  often  spoken  of  as  "The  Vice" 
by  undergraduates  while  talking  among  themselves. 

The  ordinary  way  of  making  slang  words  in  some  of  the  col- 
leges is  to  drop  off  the  last  syllable  of  a  word,  double  the  final  con- 
sonant of  the  remainder  and  then  add  "er."  According  to  this  rule, 
"breakfast"  becomes  "brek-ker"  and  "bed-room"  "bedder."  This 
reminds  me  of  the  way  an  alleged  philologist  is  said  to  have  derived 
"Italy"  from  "Latium."  "Take  'Latium.'  "  said  he,  "cut  off  'um,'  turn 
around  what  is  left  and  add  'y'  to  it." 


34 


Garden  Front,  St.  John's  College. 

CHAPTER  V. 

Athletic  Sports  and  Other  Diversions. 

If  an  American  visits  Oxford  while  the  University  is  in  session, 
and  If  he  takes  a  stroll  along  "the  High"  or  "the  Broad,"  which  are 
streets  where  students  are  frequently  to  be  seen,  he  can  scarcely 
fail  to  note  thfe  healthy  look  so  many  of  them  have.  Their  complex- 
ion is  usually  very  fair,  their  movements  are  graceful  and  their 
bearing  is  manly.  This  is  due  chiefly  to  the  fact  that  they  so  freely 
indulge  their  fondness  for  outdoor  sports.  The  English  climate 
invites  them  to  this  for  it  is  without  those  extremes  of  heat  and 
cold  from  which  we  often  suffer.  Twilight  there  lasts  far  longer  than 
it  does  with  us.  The  desire  to  be  out  of  doors  is  instinctive  with 
the  typical  Englishman.  There  are  no  gymnasiums  in  Oxford  and  if 
there  were,  it  is  probable  that  the  average  undergraduate  would 
not  use  them,  for  he  would  rather  exercise  in  the  open  air.  All  out- 
doors is  his  gymnasium. 

We  find  almost  every  kind  of  athletic  sport  at  Oxford,  except 
baseball,  which  nowhere  in  Europe  is  so  popular  as  it  is  with  us. 
Boating  has  long  been  the  leading  favorite — boating  on  the  Isis  and 
Cherwell,  which  to  one  familiar  with  our  American  rivers  seem 
nothing  more  than  creeks  and  narrow  ones  at  that.  Still,  the  Ox- 
ford boatman  obtains  rivers  of  pleasure  on  these  streams,  small 
though  they  are.  He  will  boat  even  in  winter,  when  there  is  snow 
on  the  ground.  Golf,  cricket,  hockey  and  tennis  are  played  a  great 
deal  and  so  is  football,  which  usually  differs  from  the  kind  we  play, 
in  that  it  is  less  rough,  less  dangerous  and  less  like  war.  The  game 
of  bowls  also  has  its  devotees.  This  is  played  on  the  beautiful 
green  lawns  and  with  balls  that  are  somewhat  larger  than  those 
used  in  croquet  and  are  generally  jveighted. 

Almost  every  college  has  its  boat  club,  its  football  team,  and  its 
cricket  eleven.     It  has  its  own  contests,  and  a  far  larger  proportion 

35 


of  its  undergraduates  take  an  actual  part  in  these  outdoor  recrea- 
tions than  is  customary  in  our  colleges.  There  are  also  intercol- 
legiate contests,  which  excite  a  good  deal  of  wholesome  college 
spirit.  The  University  teams  and  clubs  that  compete  with  those 
from  Cambridge  and  elsewhere  are  made  up  of  the  choicest  athletes 
to  be  found  in  the  colleges.  Those  who  are  chosen  to  represent 
Oxford  in  the  inter-university  contests  are  entitled  to  wear  a  dark 
blue  ribbon  and  for  this  reason  are  called  "blues,"  a  distinction 
very  highly  prized  at  Oxford,  as  we  may  well  suppose.  The  repu- 
tation of  a  college  is  determined  to  a  considerable  extent  by  the 
number  of  "blues"  it  has  among  its  members. 

The  spirit  of  athletics  at  Oxford  is  not  the  same  as  it  is  in  our 
larger:  colleges  and  universities.  With  us  the  desire  to  win  a  vic- 
tory is  foremost  and  everything  is  sacrificed  to  this  end,  even  com.- 
fort  and  health  not  infrequently.  With  us  training  for  athletic  con- 
tests is  very  much  harder  and  longer  than  it  is  at  Oxford.  It  is 
grim  work;  the  element  of  fun  is  not  prominent.  But  with  the 
Oxford  undergraduate  athletic  sports  are  sports  more  than  they 
generally  are  with  us.  In  the  boat  races  and  in  the  various  outdoor 
games  he  desires  to  win  victories,  to  be  sure,  but  what  he  enjoys 
more  than  anything  else  is  the  fun  afforded  by  such  contests  and 
this  he  enjoys  to  the  full. 

Besides  the  many  athletic  clubs  there  are  scores  upon  scores 
of  other  clubs — musical,  debating,  literary,  social,  drinking  and  what 
not.  Some  are  confined  to  the  colleges  and  some  are  made  up  of 
members  drawn  from  the  entire  body  of  undergraduates.  Some 
are  very  exclusive;  others  are  not  so  much  so.  A  large  number  of 
the  undergraduates  derive  a  great  deal  of  enjoyment  from  meeting 
together  in  groups  and  reading  Shakespeare.  Every  college  has 
at  least  one  debating  club  and  the  University,  too,  has  Its  debating 
societies.  The  oldest  and  most  widely  known  club  is  the  Oxford 
Union,  which  was  established  in  1823.  During  its  early  history  it 
was  famous  for  its  debates,  but  it  is  more  of  a  social  than  a  debat- 
ing club  at  the  present  time.  It  enjoys  the  distinction  of  having 
enrolled  among  its  members  Mr.,  Gladstone  and  Lord  Salisbury. 

Since  1880  there  has  been  at  Oxford  a  growing  interest  in 
dramatic  exhibitions.  When  Dr.  Jowett  was  Vice-Chancellor,  he 
directed  the  presentation  of  Greek  plays  at  Balliol,  of  which  he 
was  Master,  Since  then  some  of  Shakespeare's  plays  have  been 
acted  in  Oxford  by  undergraduates,  with  the  permission  of  the  Vice 
Chancellor.  So  widespread  and  so  intense  has  become  the  interest 
in  amateur  theatricals  that  it  has  been  called  "dramadicitis,"  and 
although  it  is  very  objectionable  to  some  Heads  of  colleges  and 
many  others  in  Oxford,  it  continues  to  grow. 

The  Moral  Atmosphere  of  Oxford. 

To  secure  and  maintain  good  order,  rules  and  regulations  are 
laid  down  by  the  colleges  and  by  the  University.  Some  of  these 
may  seem  very  petty  and  even  ridiculous  to  a  student  who  enjoys 
the  large  liberty  granted  at  Harvard,  Yale  or  Princeton.  At  one  of 
the  colleges  a  student  may  not  bring  into  his  room  a  rocking  chair 
from  home  or  elsewhere  unless  he  receives  permission  from  the 
Dean  so  to  do.  It  is  contrary  to  the  laws  of  the  University  for  a 
student  to  keep  a  horse  or  drive  a  buggy  or  any  other  vehicle  with- 
out the  consent  of  his  college  and  the  Proctors  of  the  University. 
While  he  may  smoke  all  he  pleases  within  his  college,  he  is  not 

36 


allowed  to  do  so  in  the  streets.  If  he  is  found  on  the  street  after 
dark  without  his  cap  and  gown,  he  is  disciplined  and  if  without 
leave  he  should  spend  the  night  away  from  his  room,  he  would  be 
very  harshly  dealt  with. 

There  are  various  forms  of  punishm.ent  for  violating  the  laws 
of  the  University.  Expulsion,  of  course,  is  the  most  severe.  For 
some  offenses  a  student  may  be  "rusticated,"  that  is,  sent  away  from 
the  University  for  a  certain  length  of  time.  For  som^e  breaches  of 
discipline  he  is  fined  twenty-five  cents,  for  others,  more.  If  he 
breaks  certain  rules,  he  is  "gated,"  which  means  that  he  is  not 
permitted  to  go  out  of  the  college  gate  after  dark  for  a  specified 
number  of  nights,  and  that  he  is  fined  twenty-five  cents  for  every 
night  he  is  thus  kept  in. 

Let  us  not  suppose,  however,  that  all  these  rules  and  regulations 
are  strictly  enforced  and  thfit  there  is  no  disorderliness  at  Oxford. 
Of  rowdyism  there  is  enoujih  and  to  spare.  Hazing  is  far  from 
unknown.  If  a  tutor  is  unpopular,  he  may  become  the  victim  of 
practical  jokes  at  the  hands  of  students.  There  is  a  good  deal  of 
drunkenness  in  some  of  the  colleges.  Discipline  has  become  quite 
lax  in  recent  years  and  students  may  break  many  rules  without 
being  obliged  to  break  off  th<nr  connection  with  the  University. 

From  this  it  might  seem  as  if  Oxford  were  a  place  very  unfavor- 
able to  the  cultivation  of  sound  morals.  No,  on  the  whole,  it  is 
favorable  to  this  important  end.  Oxford  has  thirty-five  hundred 
students.  Of  these  a  considerable  number  have  more  money  than 
they  have  of  real  desire  for  study.  They  are  at  Oxford  mainly  for 
the  name  of  being  there  or  .'ior  the  purpose  of  having  a  good  time 
socially  and  otherwise  for  three  or  four  years,  and  so  not  much 
could  be  expected  of  them  morally  and  intellectually.  A  very 
large  proportion  of  the  unc  ergraduates,  however,  are  at  Oxford 
for  serious  work.  If  they  have  genuine  ability  and  show  it, 
they  will  be  honored  in  a  substantial  way.  This  they  know 
very  well  and  so  they  are  i  idustrious.  There  are  hundreds  upon 
hundreds  of  Scholars  and  Exliibitioners  who  have  every  inducement 
to  study  and  conduct  themselves  properly.  Hundreds  upon  hun- 
dreds of  others  are  striving  hard  for  honors  in  the  examinations 
and  so  have  but  little  time  to  waste.  Besides  all  this,  the  college 
system,  which  may  seem  to  us  very  much  like  that  of  a  boarding 
school,  has  a  salutary  influence  upon  a  young  man  who  is  inclined 
to  be  lazy  or  disorderly.  In  short,  the  moral  forces  in  the  University 
and  in  the  city  of  Oxford  are  far  more  numerous  and  far  greater 
than  the- forces  that  promote  disorder  and  positive  immorality. 

If  the  Rhodes  Scholar  is  a  Christian  and  is  fond  of  attending 
places  of  religious  worship  other  than  his  college  chapel,  he  has 
large  opportunities  to  do  so;  for  the  city  is  well  supplied  with 
churches.  The  most  of  these  are  Anglican,  as  is  to  be  expected, 
and  the  service  is  impressive  to  those  of  this  Christian  faith.  The 
music  is  generally  fine  and  some  of  the  preaching  is  good.  There 
are  also  several  Nonconformist  churches.  These  are  not  attended 
by  the  wealthy  and  fashionable  classes;  they  are  treated  with  con 
tempt  by  many  of  the  Anglican  clergymen  and  are  not  highly 
esteemed  by  most  of  those  who  belong  to  the  Established  Church. 
Nevertheless,  one  may  hear  in  some  of  these  Nonconformist 
churches  much  of  the  really  best  preaching  that  is  to  be  heard 
in  Oxford — preaching  that  is  characterized  by  freshness,  manly 
sense  and  genuine  spiritual  power. 


37 


Expenses. 

Oxford  is  not  a  very  cheap  place  to  live  in.  The  expenses  of 
students  vary  according  to  their  habits  and  according  to  the  colleges 
of  which  they  are  members.  It  costs  much  more  to  be  at  Christ 
Church,  for  example,  than  at  one  of  the  less  fashionable  colleges. 
It  has  been  carefully  estimated  than  an  undergraduate  living  in 
college  and  with  reasonable  economy  can  meet  all  his  necessary 
expenses  for  a  year  with  $700.00.  This  will  pay  board,  room  rent. 
University  fees,  tuition  and  "tips,"  of  which  there  are  not  a  few. 

It  is  said,  however,  at  Oxford  with  great  confidence  by  some 
who  ought  to  know,  that  a  young  man,  if  he  is  a  non-collegiate 
student,  may  take  the  course  of  three  years  and  receive  the  degree 
of  B.  A.  for  $1,000,  this  sum  covering  all  necessary  expenses  for 
the  three  years;  but  I  fancy  he  would  have  to  keep  himself  pared 
down  to  the  quick  and  that  he  would  be  required  to  live  with  a 
degree  of  economy  scarcely  conducive  to  comfort  or  convenience. 
If  I  were  to  be  a  student  at  Oxford,  I  should  try  to  be  connected 
with  one  of  the  better  colleges,  even  though  it  cost  much  more  tlian 
it  would  to  be  a  non-collegiate  student.  This  would  be  far  prefer- 
able for  social  as  well  as  for  other  important  reasons. 

Dissimilarities  Among  the  Colleges. 

Each  college  in  Oxford  is  to  a  large  extent  independent.  It  has 
its  own  traditions,  its  own  history,  its  own  list  of  distinguished 
graduates.  It  has  its  own  coat  of  arms  and  guards  its  rights  with 
scrupulous  care.  Although  some  of  the  colleges  have  joint  examin- 
ations for  the  award  of  scholarships  and  although  they  have  inter- 
collegiate courses  of  lectures,  they  are  separate  from  one  another 
in  their  organization  and  government.  There  is  a  great  deal  of 
rivalry  and  of  jealousy  among  them.  They  each  have  an  individu- 
ality that  is  clearly  marked.  Their  being  members  of  the  same 
University  does  not  make  them  precisely  alike  in  spirit  and  purpose. 

All  Souls  is  unique.  It  has  great  wealth,  handsome  buildings 
and  the  Codrington,  which  is  the  finest  library  in  Oxford,  but  it 
has  almost  no  undergraduates.  It  is  made  up  chiefiy  of  Fellows, 
brilliant  men,  who  are  engaged  in  advanced  studies  and  with  whom 
it  shares  nearly  $30,000  of  its  annual  income.  Brasenose,  which,  by 
the  way,  takes  its  name  from  a  brass  nose,  the  most  prominent 
feature  of  a  head  firmly  fastened  over  the  doorway  opening  into  one 
of  the  colleg'e  quadrangles,  enjoyed  for  a  long  time  the  distinction 
of  leading  all  other  Oxford  colleges  in  boating.  Still,  it  has  not 
been  without  a  large  number  of  Classmen.  Jesus  College,  with 
Dr.  John  Rhys  at  its  head,  has  always  been  a  great  favorite  with 
the  Welsh.  Balliol,  founded  by  the  parents  of  John  Balliol,  King 
of  Scotland,  and  offering  to  students  from  that  country  special 
Inducements  in  the  way  of  valuable  scholarships,  has  enrolled  among 
its  members  a  great  many  of  Scotch  descent  who  have  risen  to 
eminence.  Keble  was  established  to  promote  cultured  thinking 
and  Christian  living.  Christ  Church  is  the  largest,  the  most  aristo- 
cratic and  one  of  the  wealthiest  colleges  in  Oxford. 

Some  of  the  colleges  are  very  much  straitened  in  their  financial 
resources,  because  of  their  small  endowments  and  because  of 
decreased  rents  from  their  landed  property.  Some  are  heavily  in 
debt  and  are  using  borrowed  capital.  Some  are  very  wealthy  and 
some  are  not  so  wealthy  as  they  seem.  St.  John's  is  now  rich  and 
in  the  future  will  perhaps  be  the  richest  by  far  in  Oxford. 

38 


^t  fp  «J. 


'C^'*^^*^ 


The  Porch  of  St.  Mary's. 


There  is  a  wide  difference  among  the  colleges  as  to  numbers, 
scholarship,  morals  and  social  position.  A  college  is  large  if  it  has 
three  hundred  undergraduates  and  small  if  it  has  less  than  a  hun- 
dred. In  some  of  the  colleges  half  of  the  undergraduates  are 
Scholars  and  Exhibitioners.  A  college  that  is  accustomed  to  receive 
as  members  young  men  who  on  account  of  their  poor  scholarship 
are  rejected  by  other  colleges,  acquires  the  unenviable  name  of 
"sink"  or  "sink  hole.''  If  asked  what  colleges  at  Oxford  were  the 
best  as  centers  of  intellectual  activity  and  sound  learning,  we  should 
not  be  far  out  of  the  way  if  of  the  larger  colleges  we  named  Balliol, 
New  and  Magdalen,  and  if  of  the  smaller  we  gave  the  name  of 
Corpus  Christi. 


College  Spirit. 

Every  student  who  is  a  member  of  a  college  is  a  member  also 
of  the  University,  but  his  life  is  colored  and  shaped  by  the  former 
more  than  it  is  by  the  latter.  His  college  is  nearer  to  him  and  more 
of  a  reality.  In  its  rivalries  with  other  colleges  he  has  a  share.  Of 
its  triumphs  he  feels  he  is  a  partaker  and  he  is  bound  to  it  more 
closely  than  he  is  to  the  University. 

It  is  natural  for  a  man  to  love  his  own  mother  more  than  he 
does  his  mother-in-law,  even  though  she  may  be  the  delightful 
mother  of  his  delightful  wife.  It  is  also  natural  for  a  college  man 
at  Oxford  to  love  his  college  with  a  more  tender  love  than  he  does 
his  University.  While  it  is  the  latter  that  examines  him  and  gives 
him.  his  degree,  it  is  his  college  that  prepares  him  for  his  examina- 
tions, develops  him  by  its  ministry  of  instruction  and  sympathizes 
with  him  in  his  perplexities.  It  is  in  his  college  that  the  most  and 
dearest  of  his  friendships  are  formed.  Accordingly,  his  college 
rather  than  his  University  is  to  him  his  alma  mater,  his  fostering 
mother. 

Every  college,  of  course,  takes  a  peculiar  delight  in  those  of  its 
members  that  have  risen  to  distinction.  She  feels  that  they  belong 
to  her  more  than  to  the  University.  Worcester  is  glad  to  have  us 
remember  that  Thomas  De  Quincey  was  hers  while  he  was  in  Oxford. 
Trinity  is  richer  in  honor  because  she  trained  William  Pitt,  the 
first  E'arl  of  Chatham,  and  later,  an  equally  able  man  in  a  very 
different  sphere,  John  Henry  Newman.  Jesus  College  may  well  be 
pleased  that  she  has  in  the  list  of  her  former  Scholars  the  name 
of  the  brilliant  historian,  J.  R.  Green.  Corpus  Christi  may  well 
boast  that  she  had  so  much  to  do  with  moulding  the  life  of  Thomas 
Arnold,  afterwards  the  illustrious  Arnold  of  Rugby.  Lincoln  enjoys 
the  distinction  of  having  trained  John  Morley,  who  has  become 
equally  distinguished  as  statesman  and  man  of  letters. 

We  think  none  the  less  of  New  College  for  giving  to  English 
Literature  the  bold  and  witty  Sydney  Smith.  We  think  all  the  more 
highly  of  Brasenose  for  giving  to  the  pulpit  P.  W.  Robertson  of 
Brighton,  that  man  of  wonderfully  fertilizing  mind,  whose  sermons 
have  had  so  great  an  influence  upon  the  best  preachers  in  the 
United  States  and  England.  Magdalen  gave  Joseph  Addison  a 
Scholarship,  which  entitled  him  to  share  in  her  income,  and  ever 
since  he  rose  to  eminence,  she  has  enjoyed  an  income  of  honor  on 
his  account. 

It  has  been  said  by  an  English  essayist  that  all  the  genius  of 
the  past  is  in  the  atmosphere  we  breathe  at  present.  What  a 
living  and  growing  college  has  been  it  is  yet.    In  a  very  important 

40 


Iffley  Church,  Cross,  and  Old  Yew  Tree. 


sense  all  who  have  ever  belonged  to  it  belong  to  it  still.  Thoreau, 
Emerson,  Lowell  and  Holmes,  though  dead,  are  living  in  the  Har- 
vard of  today.  All  that  Hawthorne  and  Longfellow  became  after 
their  graduation  at  Bowdoin  is  a  part  of  this  admirable  New  Eng- 
land college  at  the  present  time.  A  college  is  not  a  group  of 
buildings;  it  is  not  large  endowments  of  money.  It  is  a  soul, 
including  all  the  souls  that  ever  belonged  to  it.  When  a  young  man 
joins  himself  to  a  good  college,  brings  to  it  teachableness  and  yields 
to  it  obedience,  the  college  joins  itself  to  him.  It  gives  to  him  of  its 
instruction  and  inspiration  all  that  he  has  the  capacity  to  receive. 

Emerson  says  that  it  is  natural  for  us  to  believe  in  great  men. 
That  is  very  true  and  equally  true  is  it  that  no  one  ever  became 
better  in  any  true  sense  unless  he  believed  heartily  in  some  one 
much  better  than  himself.  It  is  very  foolish  for  a  person  to  wish 
all  his  associates  to  be  less  intelligent  than  himself.  No  one  ever 
becomes  a  hero  unless  he  engages  a  good  deal  in  hero-worship,  and 
it  will  be  all  the  more  desirable  if  in  some  way  he  is  associated 
with  the  heroes  he  worships.  For  a  young  man  to  join  a  college 
with  distinguished  professors  and  distinguished  alumni,  that  he  may 
well  be  proud  of  and  that  he  can  look  up  to  with  enthusiastic  admir- 
ation, will  give  him  fine  opportunities  for  employing  his  spirit  of 
hero-worship  and  his  spirit  of  emulation,  with  the  happiest  results 
to  his  mind  and  heart. 

At  Oxford  the  undergraduate  who  is  a  member  of  a  college 
feels  that  a  measure  of  honor  is  reflected  upon  him  by  the  distin- 
guished men  enrolled  among  the  members  of  his  college.  He  feels 
that  in  some  real  sense  even  tliose  who  are  dead  are  still  members 
of  the  body  to  which  he  belongs,  and  the  honest  pride  he  takes  in 
them  is  helpful  to  him  in  many  ways. 

If  we  should  ask  an  Oriel  man  to  what  college  Cecil  Rhodes 
belonged,  perhaps  he  would  say  very  promptly  and  with  evident 
pleasure,  "To  Oriel,  sir."  If  we  should  ask  a  Pembroke  man,  'Did 
not  Dr.  Samuel  Johnson  attend  Oxford?"  he  would  be  very  likely 
to  give  something  like  this  as  his  reply,  "Yes,  and  he  was  of  Pem- 
broke, too."  Possibly  some  Balliol  men  might  feel  a  trifle  indignant 
if  a  person  claiming  to  know  much  about  Oxford  should  confess  to 
them  his  ignorance  of  the  fact  that  to  their  college  belonged  Sir 
William  Hamilton,  Adam  Smith,  Lord  Chief  Justice  Coleridge  and 
the  poets,  Southey,  Clough,  Matthew  Arnold  and  Swinburne.  That 
Lords  Canning,  Salisbury  and  Rosebery,  Sir  Robert  Peel,  W.  E. 
Gladstone  and  John  Ruskin  were  members  of  Christ  Church  is  to 
many  an  undergraduate  of  that  college  a  matter  of  greater  pride 

41 


than  the  fact  that  these  illustrious  men  were  members  of  Oxford 
University. 

All  this  means  that  the  Rhodes  Scholar  from  the  United  States, 
as  soon  as  he  can  after  reaching  Oxford,  will  be  wise  to  connect 
himself  with  one  of  the  better  colleges  and  thus  reap  all  the  advan- 
tages of  the  college  system  there. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

The  Conservatism  of  Oxford. 

When  at  a  railway  station  in  England  a  traveler  enters  a  com- 
partment in  a  car,  he  finds  two  seats,  one  facing  toward  the  head 
of  the  train  and  the  other  toward  the  rear.  Many  Englishmen 
prefer  the  seat  that  will  enable  them  to  ride  with  their  backs  to  the 
engine  and  with  their  faces  toward  what  is  continually  being  passed, 
w^hile  the  train  is  in  motion.  A  great  many  of  the  English  people 
are  very  conservative  and  they  are  entirely  honest  in  this.  Their 
conservatism  is  in  large  part  due  to  their  reverence  for  what  has 
been  proved  to  be  true  and  good.  They  are  going  forward.  They 
have  to  do  this,  but  they  do  so  with  their  faces  fixed  on  the  past 
rather  than  on  the  future. 

They  have  much  of  the  feeling  that  what  was  good  enough  for 
their  fathers  ought  to  be  good  enough  for  them.  No  objection  could 
be  made  to  this  if  the  world  at  the  present  time  were  the  same 
as  it  was  in  the  time  of  their  fathers,  but  it  has  changed.  Many 
of  the  English  people,  however,  do  not  seem  to  realize  this  very 
fully.  There  can  be  no  question  that  England  has  a  splendid  past. 
The  most  of  what  is  best  in  our  American  institutions  came  from 
England  originally.  As  Lowell  once  put  it,  the  acorn  from  which  we 
sprang  was  "ripened  on  the  British  oak."  But  the  greatness  of 
England  in  the  past  is  not  of  itself  sufficient  to  make  her  as  great 
as  she  might  be  and  ought  to  be  now.  For  years  she  has  been 
falling  behind  other  great  nations  in  several  respects. 

Summer  before  last  at  Oxford  Mr.  Joseph  H.  Choate,  the 
American  Minister  to  England,  made  the  opening  address  before 
the  Summer  School,  held  under  the  auspices  of  the  University.  He 
said  that  when  he  was  thinking  of  a  subject  on  which  to  speak, 
someone  connected  with  the  University  suggested  to  him  that  a 
subject  having  to  do  with  the  Middle  Ages  would  be  very  appro- 
priate, but  Mr.  Choate  excused  himself  from  this  on  the  ground  that 
the  country  he  represented  had  no  Middle  Ages.  Accordingly,  he 
spoke  upon  education  in  the  United  States,  and  a  breezy  as  well  as 
a  spicy  address  he  made,  of  course.  If  we,  of  the  United  States,  had 
some  Middle  Ages  and  if  we  lived  in  them  half  the  time  or  wor- 
shipped them,  perhaps  we  should  be  just  as  well  off  without  them. 

One  does  not  have  to  be  in  Oxford  very  long  before  he  observes 
that  the  spirit  of  conservatism  is  very  strong  there.  One  might  say 
that  it  is  almost  fatally  strong  in  the  case  of  many  who  have  large 
influence  in  the  University.  Liberalism  does  not  find  much  of  a 
paradise  in  Oxford.  There  are  many  forceful  and  progressive  men 
there,  to  be  sure,  but  for  all  that  it  is  very  hard  work  to  bring  about 
changes  that  imperatively  need  to  be  made  from  time  to  time  in 
the  University.  Oxford  is  very  much  set  in  her  ways  and  some  of 
them  are  very  antiquated  ways,  too. 

42 


Many  educators  in  England  are  of  the  opinion  that  the  Oxford 
system  of  education  is,  on  the  whole,  very  unpractical,  and  that  it 
is  far  behind  the  times.  Some  go  so  far  as  to  call  it  a  "hopeless 
anachronism."  There  is  very  little  sympathy  between  the  Univer- 
sity and  the  great  industrial  classes  of  England.  There  is  a  disposi- 
tion in  Oxford  to  look  with  a  measure  of  contempt  upon  those 
colleges  and  universities  that  have  been  established  throughout 
England  in  recent  years  for  the  purpose  of  keeping  up  with  the 
times  as  to  instruction  in  the  natural  sciences,  and  for  the  purpose 
of  stimulating  their  students  to  do  superior  work  in  chemistry, 
physics,  biology,  geology  and  electricity. 

A  very  large  proportion  of  the  teachers  and  students  at  Oxford 
set  the  greatest  store  by  the  Latin  and  the  Greek.  The  colleges 
are  determined  that  no  one  for  any  reason  whatever  shall  be 
admitted  to  their  privileges,  as  a  candidate  for  the  degree  of  B.  A., 
unless  he  has  a  "competent  knowledge  of  the  classics."  Quite 
recently  an  attempt  was  made  to  abolish  Greek  from  the  prelim- 
inary examination  of  students  taking  mathematics  and  science  for 
their  arts  degree,  but  the  attempt  failed.  It  would  not  be  easy  to 
persuade  the  average  Oxonian  that  as  fine  and  as  valuable  a  mental 
culture  can  be  obtained  from  the  study  of  modern  subjects  as  from 
the  study  of  the  ancients.    Great  is  Aristotle  at  Oxford  even  yet. 

The  influence  of  the  Established  Church  is  very  strong  in  the 
University  although  many  of  the  very  ablest  men  there  belong  to 
the  ranks  of  the  Dissenters.  Only  men  in  the  Orders  of  the  Anglican 
Church  can  be  examiners  in  the  School  of  Theology,  A  short  while 
since  a  proposal  was  made  to  allow  Nonconformists  a  place  on  this 
examining  board.  This  proposal  was  warmly  supported  by  the  lead- 
ing professors  in  the  School  of  Theology,  who,  though  Anglicans, 
are  men  of  broad  minds  and  large  sympathies.  They  argued  with 
great  reason  that  if  Nonconformist  theologians  were  competent  to 
teach  men  so  well  that  they  could  get  their  first  classes,  which  often 
occurs,  they  surely  were  competent  to  examine  them.  The  opposi- 
tion, however,  rallied  their  forces  and  in  Convocation  voted  down 
the  proposal  with  a  large  majority. 


Defects  in  the  Oxford  System  of  Education. 

The  system  of  education  that  is  the  most  popular  at  Oxford  is 
not  the  kind  to  develop  in  the  highest  degree  the  power  of  original 
and  independent  thinking.  In  this  respect  Oxford  is  inferior  to  the 
great  German  universities  and  to  our  most  progressive  universities, 
such  as  Johns  Hopkins  and  Chicago.  Candidates  for  the  Oxford 
B.  A.  are  ranked  according  to  the  knowledge  they  display  of  certain 
studies  that  have  been  prescribed  for  them  by  the  University.  If  a 
candidate  has  the  gift  of  specializing,  if  with  great  ingenuity  he 
should  work  out  some  valuable  idea  and  make  a  substantial  con- 
tribution to  the  sum  of  human  knowledge,  this  might  count  for 
almost  nothing  in  his  final  examination.  Much  of  the  good  as  well 
as  all  the  evil  of  the  examination  system  is  amply  manifest  at 
Oxford. 

Generally  speaking,  the  college  tutor  is  kept  so  busy  superin- 
tending the  work  of  the  undergraduates  committed  to  his  care  that 
he  has  but  little  time  for  original  investigation.  Knowing,  as  he 
does,  the  general  character  of  the  University  examinations,  which 
are  more  or  less  conventional,  and  knowing  that  his  reputation  as 
a  tutor  depends  upon  the  rank  of  his  pupils  in  these  examinations, 

43 


he  advises  them  to  do  nothing  that  he  thinks  will  not  be  of  decided 
value  to  them  in  their  final  test  for  their  degree. 

There  are  several  subjects  of  study  which  are  taught  by  the 
University  alone  and  not  by  any  of  the  colleges;  so  that  if  under- 
graduates desire  to  pursue  these  studies,  they  must  do  it  under  the 
direction  of  the  University.  There  is,  however,  many  a  University 
professor  who  draws  a  good  salary  but  who  draws  very  few  of  the 
undergraduates  to  his  lecture  room.  A  young  man  may  receive  the 
degree  of  B.  A.  with  honors  and  not  attend  a  single  University 
lecture,  for  he  may  have  all  his  instruction  within  his  college. 

Moreover,  if  some  very  able  professor  of  the  University  is 
delivering  lectures  upon  a  subject  in  which  a  candidate  for  the 
degree  of  B.  A.,  with  honors,  is  particularly  interested,  he  is  not 
encouraged  by  his  college  to  attend  these  lectures  unless  they  have 
a  direct  bearing  upon  the  course  in  which  he  is  working  for  his 
degree,  and  unless  they  are  likely  to  be  of  specific  value  to  him  in 
bis  final  examination.  At  Oxford  it  is  considered  the  all-important 
business  of  the  undergraduate  to  be  prepared  for  the  Universit3'' 
examinations,  and  nothing  which  does  not  contribute  directly  to  this 
end  is  thought  to  be  worthy  of  his  earnest  attention. 


Special  Advantages  of  the  Rhodes  Scholar. 

From  what  has  been  said  it  might  seem  as  if  Oxford  after  all 
were  not  a  very  desirable  place  for  study  and  for  the  acquisition 
of  culture,    I  certainly  do  not  mean  to  convey  any  such  impression. 

Along  some  lines  of  intellectual  activity  Oxford  presents  excel- 
lent opportunities  to  the  American  student.  In  the  natural  sciences, 
in  the  modern  languages  and  in  some  other  subjects  of  study  he 
could  do  better  elsewhere,  but  he  would  have  exceptionally  fine 
advantages  at  Oxford  in  the  classics  of  Greece  and  Rome,  in  ancient 
history,  in  philosophy,  mental  and  moral,  in  modern  history  and  in 
other  departments  of  instruction.  He  would  have  large  liberty  in 
the  choice  of  electives.  Tn  research  work  he  would  have  access  to 
valuable  museums  and  libraries,  chief  among  which  is  the  famous 
Bodleian  Library.  There  are  many  of  the  University  professors 
that  have  a  world-wide  reputation  for  extensive  and  accurate  schol- 
arship, such  as  Dr.  S.  R.  Driver  and  Dr.  T.  K.  Cheyne.  The  late 
Frederick  York  Powell,  the  eminent  teacher  of  history,  was  in  the 
Oxford  Faculty.  Some  of  tiie  professors  are  interesting  and  inspir- 
ing lecturers.  Although  some  of  the  college  tutors  are  but  little 
more  than  juiceless  pedagogues  or  strutting  pedants,  filled  with  the 
conceit  of  knowledge,  many  of  the  tutors  are  very  learned  men. 
stimulating  teachers  and  most  admirable  counsellors  of  young  men. 
To  be  three  or  four  years  in  close  personal  contact  with  a  tutor  who 
is  both  a  wide-awake  instructor  and  a  wholesome  man  is  of  the 
very  highest  educational  value. 

It  is  the  aim  of  this  grand  old  institution  to  make  its  students 
familiar  with  the  best  that  has  been  thought  and  written  and  to 
impart  to  them  that  soundness  of  knowledge  and  that  breadth  of 
culture  which  cannot  fail  to  enhance  the  value  of  their  life  work. 
Oxford  has  had  among  its  graduates  very  few  of  the  great  English 
poets.  Milton,  Drj'den,  Gray,  Wordsworth,  Coleridge,  Byron,  and 
Tennyson  were  all  Cambridge  men,  but  it  has  produced  a  large 
number  of  able  clergymen,  leaders  of  thought,  distinguished  states- 
men, and  of  men  otherwise  prominent  in  the  life  of  the  English 
nation. 

44 


Christ  Church  College,  West  Front,  Oxford. 

The  social  advantages  of  life  in  Oxford  University  are  neither 
few  nor  unimportant.  It  is  true  that  some  of  the  undergraduates 
and  a  few  of  the  dons  are  afflicted  with  snobbery,  and  display  a 
good  deal  that  is  nauseating  to  the  democratic  tastes  of  a  genuine 
American.  Still,  the  Rhodes  Scholar  from  the  United  States  may 
find  in  Oxford  an  abundance  of  society  that  will  be  most  congenial 
to  him  and  that  will  minister  in  many  ways  to  the  healthy  develop- 
ment of  his  social  nature.  He  may  form  friendships  of  great  value 
to  him  all  his  life.  He  may  be  brought  into  personal  contact  with 
choice  young  men  not  only  of  England  but  of  almost  every  other 
civilized  nation  in  the  world,  for  Oxford  is  very  cosmopolitan. 

If  the  Rhodes  Scholar  has  a  special  fondness  for  the  history 
and  the  literature  of  England,  he  will  find  there  much  to  make  these 
more  real  and  enjoyable  to  him.  At  Oxford  he  will  not  be  far 
from  everywhere  else  in  England,  for  the  entire  country,  together 
with  Wales,  is  less  than  three-fourths  as  large  as  our  one  state  of 
Kansas.  To  visit  Warwick  Castle  will  make  more  vivid  to  him 
many  historic  events  connected  with  that  place,  and  a  few  days 
in  .the  Lake  District  will  intensify  his  appreciation  of  Wordsworth's 
poetry. 

It  will  be  worth  a  great  deal  to  the  Rhodes  Scholar  to  become 
well  acquainted  with  the  institutions  and  the  people  of  England. 
The  English  have  their  faults  and  we  have  ours.  They  have  much 
to  learn  from  us  and  we  have  much  to  learn  from  them.  We  have 
more  enterprise  and  more  millionaires  than  they,  but  they  have  a 
greater  regard  for  law  and  order  than  we.     They  look  upon  life 


45 


more  seriously,  but  they  derive  more  real  enjoyment  from  it  than 
we.  Many  among  us  dislike  them  and  many  among  them  dislike 
us,  but  the  best  cure  for  Anglophobia  as  well  as  Anglomania  is  a 
thorough  personal  acquaintance  with  the  English  people  themselves. 
It  is  equally  to  their  interest  and  to  ours  that  we  should  know  each 
other  well  and  that  we  should  be  on  terms  of  good-will  with  each 
other. 

They  and  we  have  more  in  common  than  any  other  two  of  the 
great  world-powers.  We  speak  the  same  language.  We  are  proud 
to  feel  that  Shakespeare,  Milton  and  Cromwell  are  ours  as  well  as 
theirs.  We  are  natural  allies  and  if  the  purpose  of  Mr.  Rhodes  in 
offering  scholarships  to  our  young  men  is  realized,  England  and  the 
United  States  can  scarcely  fail  to  be  brought  nearer  together  in 
spirit  even  though  the  Atlantic  continues  to  roll  between  them. 


';]^::€'mi^'^M\'^''''^AfSS^^m 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 
BERKELEY 

Return  to  desk  from  which  borrowed. 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


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